The Oz Quadology
by denise1
Summary: One story that spawned a second, then a third, then a fourth. On a routine trip to Kansas, the team finds something that turns their world on its side
1. There's no Place Like Home

There's No Place Like Home

By

Denise

"Anyone care to explain again why I've spent the last seven hours counting way too many orange barrels and explaining the concept of road kill to Teal'c?" Jack asked, slowing down yet again as the four lane interstate narrowed to two for road construction.

"I believe Daniel Jackson wished to investigate something," Teal'c replied giving a herd of grazing cows a glance. When O'Neill had said he would show him his world he had not believed it would be so large…and so empty. During the long drive from Colorado Springs across Kansas he'd been struck several times by the apparent desolation. Sure they'd driven through a few towns, but nothing as large as Colorado Springs.

For the most part the trip had been a monotonous display of grass, cows, fields, hills and more grass.

Soon after driving past Peterson Air Force Base the majesty of the mountains the springs was nestled against had given way to rolling hills which reminded Teal'c of a wave swept lake.

When he'd been told Kansas was flat he'd expected something like the surface of a frozen pond. But this land was so folded and twisted he could easily imagine whole armies blindly passing within a few miles of each other.

In some of the regions that were flattened he'd stared in amazement at the wide variety of crops, all in their infancy, just a foot or two tall. Even the air was different, thicker and warmer than Colorado.

"Great. Daniel wants to go sight seeing and we get a road trip," Jack complained lightly.

"Colonel. Is now the time to remind you who went to General Hammond and told him never to let Daniel go off on his own, even on earth," Sam said from the backseat, her eyes closed in a vain attempt to doze.

"Major Carter is indeed correct," Teal'c said, remembering all too well Jack's reaction to returning from Minnesota to discover Sam and Daniel had gone after a goa'uld.

"Yeah. But this is Kansas not Egypt for cryin out loud. The biggest danger around here is slipping on a cow pie," Jack quipped, speeding up now that they were through the construction zone.

"Jack. You wanted to baby-sit," Daniel said, looking up from the book he was reading to watch the highway signs. Good, they were almost there. He thought. There was a part of him that resented Jack's attitude. Then again it did feel sorta good not only to get out of the mountain but also to have someone that gave a damn if anything happened to him.

And if this was what he suspected it was, it was going to turn the SGC on its ear.

"I have not seen those animals before," Teal'c remarked.

Daniel looked. "Wow. Camels? I didn't know they had camels around here?" he said, staring at the herd of beasts quietly grazing.

"Go back a few millennia and the plains looked more like the Serengeti," Jack said also glancing at the animals.

"Huh?"

"There used to be camels here. Mammoths and Saber Tooth cats too. Didn't you ever watch westerns? These plains used to be nothing but Indians and millions of buffalo. Up until a hundred years ago or so," Jack said, tapping the brakes to disengage the cruise control as they slowed for another construction zone. Geez for a state in the middle of everything with lots of nothing, they spent a lot of time repairing roads. "And if you go back far enough this was the bottom of an inland sea," he continued, thoroughly enjoying their blank stares. A quick glance in the rear view mirror revealed Sam grinning a bit in her 'sleep'. Ok so he owed her lunch when they got back. It was worth it to catch Danny slightly flatfooted. "You got directions to this place?"

Daniel obligingly rattled off a series of 'take exit number…turn right, then left at the barn, cross the crick and you can't miss it'.

Jack committed the first couple of parts to memory and tuned out the rest concentrating on not rear-ending the tractor-trailer in front of him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nearly two hours later Jack stopped his jeep, pulling to the side of the gravel road. They were parked beside an old homestead, nestled in a small valley. The house was pretty much still standing but the barn wasn't so lucky and could be more accurately described as a big pile of firewood. What could have been a pump house or out house was also lying flat in the tall grass. The structure of the buildings and the large trees surrounding them told Jack that this place had probably been built well over a century ago. A few hundred yards away there was a creek, also well lined with tall cottonwoods.

"End of the line kids," he said, turning off the engine and undoing his seat belt. He got out, stretching and popping his back with the others following suit. "Ok Daniel, where exactly is this rock of yours you're so keen on?"

"Artifact," he corrected automatically. "The call I got said it was in the creek bed," he said pointing off at the creek.

"Cool. Hope you brought your waders," he said his voice sounding abnormally loud over the quiet chorus of buzzing bugs and birdcalls.

"Aah colonel," Sam said, eyeing the thigh high grass warily. "Four of us tracking down there would be sort of redundant." Not to mention that the grass looked like chigger heaven. She motioned towards the still standing farmhouse. "I think Teal'c and I will go look at the house.

Jack shot her a look that screamed 'chicken'. "Ok. But watch yourself. I'd hate to explain to Fraiser how one of you stepped on a rusty nail or something." He looked at his watch then at the billowing clouds gathering on the horizon. "We'll be back in an hour. I think the weather's going to turn on us."

Sam followed his gaze and she too saw the darkening clouds. Oh yeah. They were definitely in for an afternoon thunderstorm. "The weatherman did predict rain," she offered.

"Yeah. And even they have to be right once in a while," Jack quipped. "See ya in an hour," he said as they went their different ways.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack followed Daniel down what he guessed to be a deer trail leading to the rushing creek. As they clambered down the short bank a small pile of pellets by a set of cloven hoof prints proved his suspicions correct. He watched Daniel glance both ways then head to the left. At least this was a rocky-bottomed creek, he thought looking at the fast moving clear water. Despite the high humidity and still sultry air it was slightly cooler here than in the unshaded grass.

He followed Daniel who was making his way through small saplings and weeds that took advantage of the abundant water source to grow.

"You do know where this rock is?" he asked, ducking under a huge cobweb occupied by an equally large spider.

"Of course. Jaime said she'd mark it," Daniel replied over his shoulder.

"Oh yeah. I'm sure. Big neon sign. What's the big deal about this rock anyway? And who's this Jaime chick?"

"She's actually…well she was a friend of Robert's. His messages got forwarded to me. She's aah…well an amateur anthropologist and she found something interesting. She thought Robert should come see it but…" Daniel shrugged.

"So we're here to see a fossil?" Jack asked, swatting at a dragonfly.

"Yes Jack. For once we really are looking for a rock," Daniel quipped, letting a branch snap back in his friend's face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam carefully stepped over the threshold watching where she put her feet. Though most of the house was standing she trusted the century old structure about as far as she could throw it.

Looking up she could see bits of sky through the well-ventilated roof. The main floor was divided into three rooms, each let a bit of sunlight flood in through long broken windows.

"This was once a fine home," Teal'c said, examining the stone walls. "If repaired it could still be habitable. Why would someone abandon it?"

"Most likely the kids moved out and mom and dad either moved on or died," Sam replied with a shrug examining a rusty bed frame set against a wall.

"This house was not passed down to the children?"

"Maybe they didn't have any. Or they didn't want it. Or maybe they weren't farmers. Teal'c there are thousands of old homesteads scattered around. Most of the time their owners just moved on. I mean there are still places where the government will give you land if you promise to live there. One thing the US has is plenty of space. Just not always where everyone wants to be though," she finished keeping an eye on a large wasp's nest, buzzing with activity. As she led the way into one of the other rooms, he heard the faint rumblings of thunder. Perhaps their weather forecasters were going to be correct this time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Found it," Daniel shouted, pointing towards the length of bright orange tape tied to a branch.

"Well it's about time. Thought we were going to hike our way back to Colorado," Jack said, wiping sweat off his forehead. Seemingly unbothered by the heat, or perhaps he was immune to it, Daniel pushed aside a couple of branches and knelt down, searching the dirt. "So what's so special about this rock?" Jack asked, stepping closer.

"Jaime was out here, really just messing around killing time. Seems her boyfriend had dragged her out fishing and she was bored," Daniel said, ignoring Jack's pointed look. 'There was a lot of snow this winter and a lot of rain. So there was a lot of erosion. She found a strange looking fossil washed out of the bank."

"So?"

"So. She thinks it's a whole new species but wanted another opinion before she started a big hue and cry."

"Which is where Rothman came in."

"Exactly."

"So…she find the missing link?" Daniel brushed the dirt away and sat back on his heels. "What? Wooly Mammoth, T-Rex…Jimmy Hoffa?" Jack asked picking up on his friend's mood. He leaned in and peered over his shoulder. "Holy Buckets! Is that what I think that is?"

Daniel nodded, brushing a bit of dirt away from the fossil. He traced the edges of the large dorsal fin. "Jack…the Goa'uld may not have invaded earth…they may have been here all along," he said staring at the fossilized remains of a goa'uld queen.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam vainly fanned herself with her hand, feeling the sweat drip down her spine and collect at the waistband of her shorts. "Man I forgot how hot 90 degrees with 70 humidity could be. At least in Iraq it was a dry heat."

"Iraq?"

"It's a desert. One hundred and fifteen in the shade, which there wasn't much of. But at least it wasn't humid. I can't imagine living out here with no air conditioning."

"Perhaps they acclimated or took refuge below," he said pointing out a small flight of stairs leading into a root cellar.

"I doubt it. Too many creepy crawlies. You know I guess it wouldn't be too bad if there was a breeze." Sam stopped as a sudden strong gust of wind rocked the house making the walls creak and dust rain down from the perforated roof. In an instant the sun faded and a bright flash of light burst through the window. "What the…" Sam stepped forward as a loud crack of thunder split the air.

Another large gust of wind pushed through the window carrying with it the unmistakable smell of rain. Sam looked out and stared. The once blue sky was gone, replaced by billowing, swirling gray clouds. She saw a white sheet of rain sweeping across the land towards them like a tsunami.

In seconds the relentless drumming of the rain, the howl of the wind and the deafening crack of lightning bolt after lightening bolt replaced the stillness of the abandoned house.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack's mind was racing as he tried to imagine ancient earth not victims of an alien invasion but victims of what was basically friendly fire.

"We aah…Jack we need to get a team out here. Find out if there are any more fossils. I mean can you imagine what would happen if the world found out about the goa'uld? Then again I don't have to imagine it. I've seen it and it isn't pretty," Daniel said as a sudden gust of wind raised some dust and caused the branches to sway.

"What the hell?" Jack stepped back towards the stream to get a clear view of the sky.

"Danny we got bigger problems right now. Grab your friend and let's go."

"Jack I can't just rip a fossil out of the ground…"

"Ok fine. Leave it. But we gotta go," Jack insisted, grabbing Daniel's arm.

"Jack damnit. What's the hurry?" Daniel asked, puling his arm away. Just then the sky opened and sheets of hot rain washed over them, punctuated by a large crack of thunder.

"Oh nothing. I just think a stream bed is not a good place to be during a downpour," he quipped.

"Good point." Daniel turned and pulled the large rock out of its place. Fortunately the millennia old sandstone broke away easily. "Let's get Pandora and us somewhere drier," he said, shifting it in his arms.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam stood by the pane-less window, using the wall as a shield from the blowing rain. "It's raining cats and dogs out there," she said idly.

"On Chulak we would say it rains Kanas and Felkas," he said with a small smile. Sam shot him a look back and giggled. She'd always suspected he got more of earth slang than he let on.

A series of small cracks drew her attention back out the window to see hail stones starting to mix with the rain. "Whoa," she said, watching them bounce off the ground, their velocity causing them to ricochet off the dirt.

Sam eased herself forward, fascinated by the sight of the storm. Thunderstorms were actually quite frequent in the mountains but large lines of storms marching relentlessly across the landscape were a phenomenon unique to the plains.

The hail and rain abruptly stopped and Teal'c instinctively looked up. "Kratha Ma'tak," he whispered, staring transfixed at the sky.

"What?" Sam asked, turning to him. She followed his gaze upwards and her eyes grew wide. "Oh Auntie Em," she whispered, staring at the swirling funnel descending from the wall cloud.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack steadied Daniel as they hurriedly made their way back down stream, keeping a careful eye on the water level. It was rising but not by much given how hard it was raining. But he figured they didn't have much time before there was a bit of a flash flood.

He thought about climbing out right now but the banks were too steep and overgrown to be easily traversed.

"There," Daniel said, motioning with his head. Jack followed and saw the place where they'd climbed down was just ahead.

"Sweet. Ten more yards and we're home….ow!" Jack exclaimed as a hailstone hit him on his head. Seeing more and more falling he grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him towards the high bank and thick brush. It meager protection but better than nothing.

They watched the hailstones tear through the trees, bits of leaves and branches joining in the show. The hail landed in the water with loud splashes and was carried down stream like miniature icebergs.

As quickly as it had started the rain and hail stopped like someone had turned off a switch.

"Well that was fun," Jack said, rubbing his sore head.

"I hope Sam and Teal'c are ok," Daniel said, nudging a hailstone with his toe.

"They're fine. Let's get out of here before something else happens. With all my luck Thor'll need something…"Daniel looked up and stared at the funnel descending from the clouds. He watched in fascination, as the natural monster lowered towards the earth, twirling and spinning like a dervish on speed. "…Or that damned Anise will come…Daniel what?" Jack followed his friend's gaze. "Oh my."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam leaned out the window staring in morbid fascination as the small tornado made contact with the ground, dirt and debris swirling up, coloring the funnel gray.

"Incredible," she breathed. "I've never seen a tornado before…not a real one anyway. I mean I've seen them on TV but…all the energy exerted, it could power the gate for a week…and it's just a little one," She said unconsciously raising her voice over the howl of the wind.

As it swept past she leaned further and further out of the window and only Teal'c's steadying arm kept her from overbalancing and falling out.

"Perhaps the best course of action would be to seek shelter," he suggested also fascinated by the phenomenon. Chulak's climate was so cold thunderstorms were a rarity, tornadoes unheard of.

Sam shot him an incredulous look. "I am not missing this," she insisted, climbing out the window and walking around the corner of the house. With a roll of his eyes Teal'c followed her, to guard her back he told himself.

They watched the tornado make its way away from them wobbling like a drunken top. A few hundred yards away, the top ran out of energy and stopped spinning. At least that's what it looked like. In reality the vortex lost touch with the ground and was pulled back up into the clouds where it belonged.

No longer supported by a cushion of air, bits of mud and grass began to fall from the sky, the grass floating down like skinny green confetti.

Sam walked over to where the tornado had passed, kneeling down for a closer look. Most of the grass was still there but it had been twisted like a wrung out towel. "Ten feed wide. It was just ten feet wide," she enthused, standing back up.

"You two ok?" Jack called relieved to see the twister hadn't done much damage.

"We're fine sir. You?" Sam asked, taking in their slightly bedraggled appearance.

"Just a little wet. Hail of a storm huh?"

Sam looked at Teal'c and they both rolled their eyes silently, refusing to encourage him. Being trapped in a car with Jack O'Neill on a roll could be considered torture. "Daniel, what did you find?" she asked, watching him shift the large flat rock in his arms.

"He'll tell you in the car," Jack interrupted as lightning again illuminated the darkening sky, followed within seconds by thunder. "Let's blow this place before it…blows," he said fishing out his keys.

Teal'c stepped forward and took the rock from Daniel who smiled his thanks. "Careful with Pandora Teal'c."

"Pandora?" Sam asked, walking towards the car. "Daniel you're naming your artifacts?"

"It's a rock Carter. A big heavy rock that's opened a big honkin can of worms," Jack said, feeling a headache start that he knew had nothing to do with the hailstone.

Fin


	2. Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

By

Denise

It was the last thing they'd expected to see. Sam was in her lab; she was always in her lab. Even the techs joked that she didn't even have a home, that she just pulled a cot out of a closet somewhere.

Lately she'd developed the habit of turning off the ringer on her phone so no one was too surprised when she didn't answer it.

When she wouldn't answer her page, Jack was more annoyed than angry. After all it wasn't anything important, just a missed lunch date.

He took his time, pausing to turn in a report to the general, then grabbed Teal'c and pried Daniel away from his newest girlfriend, Pandora, an enigma of a rock he'd dragged back from Kansas last week, before going in search of the missing major.

Even when the door to her lab was closed no one was worried. That was another habit she'd started since Martouf and the whole Zatarc mess, going off on her own.

Jack knew exactly why she was doing it. The rumor mill had kicked into high gear after Anise's last visit and the surest way to get it to settle back down was to give it nothing to feed on.

So she'd avoided being alone with any of them. They'd all noticed it, even the delivery guy from Mo's Pizza had noticed the blond chick that ate the Hawaiian half of the pizza hadn't been around lately.

Well it was time for all that to change Jack had decided.

There was nothing going on between the two of them beyond a few run away hormones and an 'oh God I am going to die' adrenaline rush. He knew it. She knew it. Daniel and Teal'c knew it. Heck even Hammond knew it.

So it was time to tell the gossips to take a leap and get back to patching up friendships that had one heck of a rough time lately.

Upon encountering the closed door, Jack merely pulled his card out of his pocket and unlocked it, ignoring the hairs that stood up on the back of his neck. "Carter I don't care if you've cracked that gold into lead puzzle it's lunchtime and Sargent Bertelli isn't going to save me that piece of pumpkin pie forever," he said, striding into the room.

"O'Neill," Teal'c said in a wary voice.

"Jack. Something's wrong," Daniel said at the same time.

Jack heard neither of them. In the same instant that a smell crept into his nostrils his boot stepped in something with a sickening smack.

Knowing what he'd see but not wanting to, he looked down and felt his heart stop. "Oh God!" he exclaimed kneeling by the still figure. "Daniel…"

"Got it," Daniel replied lunging for the phone.

Teal'c knelt by him as Jack pulled open Sam's fatigue shirt looking for the source of all the blood.

Finding a hole that seemed disproportionately small for the size of the puddle he'd stepped in he pressed his hand down like little boy blue trying to stem the flood.

The bit of relief he felt at the faint beating of her heart was tempered by the knowledge that he'd seen men die of less.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What the hell happened?" General Hammond demanded, storming into the infirmary.

Jack pulled his gaze from the drawn curtain to his CO. "Someone shot Carter," he reported dully, not quite believing he'd just uttered that particular phrase.

"Colonel?" Hammond asked, shock evident on his features.

"We aah…we were getting Sam. We were going to get some lunch and found…" Daniel paused.

"We discovered Major Carter unconscious in her laboratory," Teal'c reported.

"And no one saw or heard…" George paused as the curtain opened. They watched silently as an orderly rushed past them pushing a gurney. In a matter of seconds Sam was shifted from the bed to the gurney and wheeled out of the room. "Doctor?" Hammond asked Janet, trying no to stare at the bright red blood splatters on her normally pristine lab coat.

"It looks like the bullet missed her lungs which is good. Doctor Warner's scrubbing in right now."

"Will she?" Jack asked.

"I think so colonel. Just be glad you didn't decide to skip lunch. Another half-hour or so and she would have bled to death. Sir?" She turned to George. "I'd like to assist."

"Carry on," George said. She needed no further urging and hurried from the room.

"General. Who would shoot Sam?"

"That is one thing I intend to find out Doctor Jackson. Teal'c, inventory the armory. I want to know who signed out weapons. Doctor Jackson I want every second of security camera footage looked at and Colonel, I want a list of every person on this base in the last six hours," he ordered.

A trio of affirmations followed his request as they turned to leave. "Jack?" he called. Jack turned back to his CO. "Maybe you want to wash your hands?" George suggested.

The colonel stared dumbly at his hands and frowned. They were stiff and sticky with congealing blood. His friend's blood. Blood that just a little while ago and been coursing through her veins, maintaining her life. Now it was lifeless, cold and still. Just like last time. The last time he'd held his hands over a gaping hole and tried to keep it all in.

"Yes sir," he mumbled, walking stupidly towards the sink.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ok people. What have we got?" Hammond demanded of the somber group seated around the table.

"According to Sargent Styles all weapons in the armory are accounted for," Teal'c reported.

Hammond nodded. The answer was one he'd expected. Given the nature of their work, there was no shortage of weapons on the base. "Colonel?"

The general's words pulled Jack's gaze from the empty chair he'd been staring at and directed it back to his CO. "Just going by the duty rosters sir there have been nearly two hundred and fifty people on this base in the last eight hours. That's not counting the ones that are here late or on their own time, security is still working on that list. Frankly sir, the only people above reproach right now are the off-world teams."

George sighed. That was pretty much what he'd suspected also. "See if you can narrow it down a bit colonel. See if anyone had a reason to shoot her." Jack nodded as Daniel came into the room trailed by Major Castleman. "Doctor Jackson?"

"Umm sir, you'll want to see this." He crossed the room and slipped the tape into the machine. "It's from the security camera right outside Sam's lab."

They watched in morbid fascination as a very familiar figure used his pass card to open the door, which closed behind him. A few minutes later he left the room, a pistol clearly visible in his hand, which he shoved into his pocket.

Four shocked faces turned to the fifth who was staring at the image of himself walking calmly out of the camera's range.

"Aah sir?"

General Hammond shook his head; his eyes still riveted on the screen. "I don't care what that video says there's no way in hell I shot Major Carter," he insisted. "I…wouldn't…" he trailed off.

"That is not what the video shows General Hammond," Teal'c stated quietly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Janet, how is she?" Daniel asked, walking into the infirmary with Jack.

She turned, still dressed in her surgical scrubs. "She's going to be fine Daniel. I don't know how but the bullet managed to miss every vital organ. It just nicked the pulmonary artery, that's why she lost so much blood," she explained checking the readings on the machines.

Daniel stepped forward and looked down at his friend. If it weren't for the barely discernable bulk of bandages under the white gown he'd just think she was asleep.

"Give her a few weeks and she'll be fine," Janet reassured. She left Daniel's side and joined Jack. "I understand you're leading the investigation?"

"Yeah. Looks that way," Jack said quietly.

"Then you'll need this." She pulled a plastic bag out of her pocket and handed it to him.

Jack took it and looked at the mangled piece of metal. "That…" he motioned towards Sam.

"Yeah. 9mm is my guess," she confirmed.

"It looks about right," Jack agreed. Given the fact that 9mm pistols were the standard issue sidearm for the SGC he would have been surprised if it had been another caliber. "I'm going to have a couple of SF's stationed down here."

"You think she's still in danger?" Janet asked amazed.

"I think Carter's the only witness," he said. "And someone's tried to kill her once already."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Half an hour later Jack stood in the general's office, studying the lists. Three hundred. There were nearly three hundred people on the base at the time Carter had been shot. And any one of them could have done it.

He refused to believe the videotape. It just wasn't possible. There was no way in hell George would hurt anyone in his command, much less Carter. Christ she was practically like a daughter to him.

General Hammond had confined himself to quarters. He'd suggested the brig but Jack had insisted the VIP quarters were more than sufficient. Hammond trying to kill one of them was about as likely as him and Carter having wild sex on the briefing room table…or him and Daniel for that matter.

It had to be one of these people. But which one? Who had a motive for murder?

Simmons. Did he still have that crush on her? Would that be reason enough to try to kill her? Or Lieutenant Keller. Rumor had it that she fancied Simmons. Maybe a woman scorned deal.

Then there was Captain Mayer. Last week she had called him on a mistake. It could be a bit of professional jealousy.

He scanned through the list then tossed it aside in disgust. Hell, given the events of the past few weeks he was as much a suspect as anyone.

The phone rang and he picked it up, eager for the distraction. "O'Neill."

"Jack, she's awake," Daniel reported.

"I'm on my way." Jack tossed the phone down and hurried from the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack strode into the infirmary nodding at the two guards. Had it really come down to this? Cheyenne Mountain locked down, not to protect the world but to contain an enemy in their midst.

Jack slowed, quieting his footsteps instinctively. What was it about infirmaries and sick friends that made a person want to tiptoe?

Daniel was at Sam's side while Teal'c stood at parade rest at the foot of her bed. Janet hovered, her expression telling Jack that she'd kick them out in an instant.

He met the doctor's gaze and at her nod stepped forward. "Carter?" he called quietly.

Her eyes fluttered open. "Colonel," she whispered hoarsely.

"How do you feel?'

"Dumb question. What happened?"

Jack looked at Daniel who shook his head slightly. "You were in your lab. Somebody shot you. Do you remember anything?"

She frowned, trying to think through the painkillers. She opened her mouth, then shut it, like she didn't want to say anything.

"What?" Jack prodded.

"A goa'uld. His eyes glowed but…he looked like you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The airman nodded at the guard who opened the door for him. He walked into the room, careful not to spill anything on the tray. "I brought you something to eat sir," he said, setting the tray down.

"I'm not hungry son," George said staring at the far wall.

"Sir. The cook made this just for you," he cajoled.

"I said I'm not hungry airman."

"General. Sir. With all due respect, you need to eat something…"

"Son," George said, raising his voice.

"Doctor Fraiser's orders sir. She told me to make sure you ate something," he said quietly.

With an annoyed glare George stalked to the table and picked up the glass of iced tea. He drank half of it in two big gulps. "There," he said, slamming the glass down. "Satisfied? Dismissed," he ordered.

"Yes sir," the man said quietly, studying the general closely. He hid a satisfied smile as a puzzled look crossed the older man's face. He turned his back and walked away, smiling broadly as a pained gasp from behind him. Just as his fingers touched the doorknob he heard a heavy thud. "Very satisfied," he whispered quietly leaving the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"She could have been wrong," Daniel suggested, hurrying to keep up with Jack.

"When was the last time Carter was wrong?" Jack asked, swiping his card in the elevator call box.

"Ok. But. Jack you don't have a goa'uld do you?" he asked, pushing the button for level 25.

Jack shot him a dirty look. "Right. That's…that's good actually cause the thought of Jack O'Neill with a snake in his head is actually pretty scary."

"Well thank you Daniel. I'm touched."

"What I mean is the universe can barely handle a human Jack O'Neill. Having one around for centuries just might be too much for it," Daniel said as the elevator stopped and the door opened. "Now a Tok'ra. That would be different…"

"Different? A snake in the head is still a snake in the head," Jack said, returning the salutes of the guards outside the general's room.

"True but. What if you got Anise? That…that would be really weird."

Jack ignored his friend and opened the door. "General. I've got some good news and some damned confusing…General?" he asked, scanning the room.

"Oh my God!"

Jack turned and saw Daniel run across the room. He threw himself to his knees and rolled Hammond to his back. "He's not breathing," the archaeologist reported, tipping the man's head back to clear his airway.

Jack dashed to the door and pulled it open.  "Medical emergency!" he yelled. "Get Fraiser down here now!" He yelled, then hurried back to help Daniel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Teal'c opened his eyes, a commotion pulling him out of the light state of Kel-no-reem he was in and into full attentiveness. He glanced at Sam who was sleeping peacefully. Certain that she would be all right if left alone for a bit he pushed the curtain aside and stepped out into the main part of the infirmary.

"Give me one amp of bicarb!" He heard Doctor Fraiser order. The flurry of medical staff, one of which was kneeling astride the patient pushing in on his chest concealed the victim's identity.

Seeing Jack and Daniel enter the room he crossed to them. "O'Neill. What has transpired?"

"I think…I think he had a heart attack," Jack answered, his eyes riveted to the scene before him.

He recognized a lot of what Janet was saying and doing. It looked exactly like what they did on TV. Except this was no dummy they were working on. This was his friend, his CO. A mentor and heck sort of a surrogate father.

Teal'c turned to Daniel, a question on his face. "We were going to the general, to tell him about what Sam said. We found him on the floor," Daniel explained.

Teal'c turned back to the drama, a sickening fear welling up in his belly. "General Hammond."

"Charge to 300. CLEAR!"

He cringed as the younger man's body convulsed in response to the electricity sent through it. The defibrillator he remembered from Urgo's visit. Used to shock a heart back into a healthy rhythm.

"Again! Clear!"

This time he saw O'Neill and Daniel flinch as their leader's body jerked.

"How did this happen?"

Jack shrugged. "Stress maybe?"

"Doctor Fraiser pronounced General Hammond in perfect health just last week," Teal'c reported, his status as the base's only full time occupant giving him greater knowledge than most of its inner workings.

"What could cause a perfectly healthy man to fall over with a sudden heart attack?" Daniel asked rhetorically.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack plopped in Hammond's chair and sighed heavily. He couldn't believe it. This whole day had been like a nightmare come true. He looked at his watch. 1600. Just a few hours ago everything had been fine. Carter was puttering in her lab and George, hell George had been sitting in this very chair no doubt grousing about paperwork.

He leaned forward and opened the bottom drawer. He pulled out the general's secret bottle of Jack Daniels and splashed two fingers worth into an empty coffee mug.

He took a large drink, accepting the way the liquor burned down his throat. Carter would be fine, he reassured himself. A few weeks of rest and she'd be good as new.

George was another matter. Against all the odds Janet had managed to stabilize him. He was still alive. That was the good news. The bad news was that a heart attack on the record of someone who was due for retirement four years ago did not look good.

A flash of movement caught his eyes. He stared in amazement as the bottle took on a life of its own. It floated off the desk and hung suspended in midair. Jack simply stared as the bottle upended and gurgled as if it was being poured. The bottle righted itself and dropped back on the desk with a small thud.

Instinctively his hand reached for the phone, which slid from his grasp and crashed to the floor.

At that moment the door burst open and Jack dropped to a defensive crouch behind the desk.

"Jack. You're not going to believe this but…" Daniel stopped at the sight of his friend cowering behind the desk.

Jack lunged from behind the desk and dashed through the doorway. He stared frantically both ways down the hall but saw nothing but two confused Lieutenants.

"Jack. What's going on?" Daniel asked slowly, using the same tone of voice Jack had used when Daniel had had his little brush with mental health.

"I…I don't know. What's your news?" he said, changing the subject.

"OK," Daniel said, accepting the change. "I don't know if this is good or bad. It is good but also not so good…"

"Daniel. I swear to god if you don't spit it out…"

"The general's heart attack…it wasn't his fault. Janet found abnormally high potassium levels in his blood."

"So?"

"So they were high enough to stop his heart. Jack, it's not possible for this to occur naturally. Not in a healthy person. Janet says the only way for someone to have this much potassium in his blood is for someone to put it there. This wasn't a heart attack. It was attempted murder."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam slowly woke up, remembering enough of where she was to know an early morning stretch wouldn't be a good idea right now. She took a deep breath and winced a bit at the pain.

"Major Carter?" She opened her eyes to see Teal'c stand up from the chair he was sitting in. "Do you require assistance?" he asked quietly.

"Can I have a drink?" she asked, realizing how thirsty she was.

He obligingly stepped forward and picked up a cup from the bedside table and held it so she could drink through the straw.

She took a couple of sips, enjoying the cool water easing her sore throat. Her eyes caught a movement behind Teal'c. The hairs on her neck stood on end. This was what she'd felt before in her lab. She pulled her head back and raised her hand. "Teal'c…" she whispered meeting his gaze. She saw realization dawn on his face. Before he could react she saw his head jerk to the side and he collapsed to the floor.

Sam frantically scanned the room for an invisible enemy, her right hand feeling for the call button.

"And they think you're so great." She heard as cold hard hands wrapped around her neck.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first thing Teal'c was aware of was the smell. Antiseptic. Which meant the infirmary. He opened his eyes. He was on the floor. But that did not make sense, unlike O'Neill; he had never been on the floor of the infirmary.

He heard a slight creaking sound and looked up to see an arm fall limply off the edge of the bed.

Driven by fear he forced himself to his feet and reached out blindly. His searching fingers encountered a form and he tightened his grip, pulling it away from his helpless friend.

"Freak." He heard a surprisingly feminine voice curse as he sent the invisible figure crashing into the wall. He spun, straining his eyes to see something, anything that could tell him where the assailant was. Suddenly something tangled in his legs and he fell backwards, narrowly missing cracking his head open on the table. "The bigger they are." He heard as he watched the curtain wave as the person fled the room.

Realizing a search would be futile he turned his attention back to his friend. A quick check revealed she wasn't breathing. Swiftly he tipped her head back and breathed for her as he'd been taught. After a second breath he was rewarded by a weak cough as she began to breathe on her own.

He held the oxygen mask over her mouth for a few minutes until the dreaded bluish tinge left her lips.

Wondering why the noise had not attracted any attention he walked past the unconscious Hammond, stuck his head out in the hall and was surprised to find the two guards O'Neill had stationed there were gone. Coming to the swift realization that no one could protect his teammate from an invisible assassin he made an easy decision.

He unhooked the IV bag and carefully picked her up. The only way she would be safe was to put her where no one would think to look.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ex-Lieutenant Claire Tobias glanced both ways down the hall and after ascertaining that she would be unobserved, slipped into the storeroom. She deactivated the imager and sat on the floor with a sigh of relief. Though the appropriated alien technology was incredibly useful and astonishingly easy to reprogram, it did not mesh well with human physiology. That little tidbit was something Major Carter had left out of her report when she'd used the thing during the alien invasion over a year ago. Unless of course Major Pollyanna thought a little nausea and splitting headache were normal.

'Do not complain. If I was not allowing you your petty revenge, we would already have attained our goal and be well out of here.'

'Gil. Stop complaining and fix my head ok. You wanted me to stir up some trouble here. And that is what I'm doing.'

'What you are doing is risking our objective by letting your personal feelings get in the way. What you will do is go get her so we can leave this place before someone starts to figure things out.'

'Just let me rock the foundations a little more Gil. Let me make things nice and easy for our bosses to step in and take their rightful place,' she reasoned, knowing full well he knew just what their mission objectives were.

'Fine. Now rest and let me fix the damage that Jaffa did.' Claire obediently closed her eyes and let Gil take control.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Teal'c quietly slipped through the back halls, his ears straining for the slightest sound. For this to work, no one could know where he was going.

He paused at a junction studying the cameras. This had been a game he'd played with the security staff. They'd wager on whether he could get from point A to point B without being seen. They often lost.

He rounded the corner and slipped into the storeroom, his movements slightly hampered by the burden he carried.

In the back of the storeroom he opened another door revealing a tiny, dark room.

He gently laid Sam on the floor then set himself to making it habitable. Fortunately there were mattresses and sleeping bags stored in the outer room.

"Teal'c?" He returned to see her awake and alert, if a bit puzzled as she took in her surroundings. "What's going on?" she asked as he helped her off the floor and onto the makeshift bed.

"Someone tried to kill you again. They were invisible and there is no defense against an invisible foe save preventing her from finding you," he said.

Sam nodded, rubbing her sore throat. "Where am I?"

"Behind a store room on level 22."

"I heard rumors of secret rooms when I transferred here but thought it was just stories. What's your plan?" She asked, shifting a bit to settle herself.

"Since you reported seeing O'Neill shoot you and the cameras recorded General Hammond entering your lab I believe we are dealing with an assailant who can not only mask their presence but change their appearance. Therefore there are few we can trust. I do not believe O'Neill knows this. I had planned to hide you here then inform him of my beliefs."

"Makes sense. He can round everyone up or maybe sweep the base with TERs."

Teal'c nodded. That had been his idea also. "Do you require anything?"

"Actually yeah," Sam said, listing a couple of items.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Jack I still don't see…" Daniel said hurrying beside Jack on his way to the infirmary.

"That's the point Daniel. You DIDN'T see," Jack said, forcefully pushing the elevator buttons. He was getting sick and tired of playing catch up in this little game. "Someone was in Hammond's office with me," he explained as the door opened.

"You were alone," Daniel insisted, standing aside so two people could exit, then following his friend into the car.

"No. I wasn't. And before you say it, I'm not drunk, drugged or possessed by aliens. Someone was there. And I'm willing to bet it was the same someone that masqueraded as Hammond and I. And the same someone that tried to kill the Carter."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. "Oh. Ok," Daniel replied, following him.

Jack took a few steps and stopped in the middle of the hall. "What?"

"What what?"

"I just told you there's an invisible shape shifting assassin running around the place and all you can say is oh?"

"Well. What would YOU say if I told you this?" Daniel asked. Jack thought a moment and frowned. "Exactly," Daniel continued. "Come on," he urged.  They walked unchallenged into the infirmary.

"Doc. Where are the guards?" Jack asked.

Janet looked up from the chart she was writing in. "I was just going to call you. They left over an hour ago. I thought you dismissed them," she said, closing it and hanging it on the foot of the bed.

"No. I didn't. They better have a damn good reason. How is he?" Jack asked, motioning at a sleeping Hammond.

"He's fine. It's my other patient that I'm worried about."

"Is Sam ok?" Daniel asked quickly.

"I really hope so," Janet answered, pulling back the curtain to reveal an empty mussed bed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Teal'c carefully scanned the corridor as he exited the storeroom. In his years of living at this facility he had never observed anyone using the room but he couldn't be too careful. Especially if this person could indeed appear as anyone.

As he walked down the hall he worked the puzzle over in his head. Major Carter had said her assailant's eyes glowed but Teal'c had not sensed the presence of a symbiote when he had attacked it in the infirmary. But whatever he had tussled with, it had been strong enough to be a goa'uld.

But the language it used was more that of a human than a goa'uld.

Was it possible there was another castaway like Seth? But both Major Carter and Jacob Carter had been able to sense Seth. It made little sense. What goa'uld could be here on earth? How could it gain access to the SGC? And if it was a goa'uld, why had it not taken control of the facility and made its demands?

It almost felt as though they were dealing with a human foe and not an alien one.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel hurried down the hall, glancing at his watch. He'd promised Jack he'd hurry. He had been right in the middle of arranging to have Pandora carbon dated when the colonel had showed up and dragged him away for lunch. A lunch he'd never eaten he remembered, having spent the last six hours chasing after shape shifting killers.

It just didn't make sense. Why would someone shoot Sam and try to make it look like the general had done it? And then try to kill the general. To cover their tracks? Maybe if the prime suspect were dead then the investigation would stop.

He swiped his card and opened his office door, grateful for a bit of paranoia that had made him lock it in the first place. He crossed to his desk and looked at the sandstone rock, about the size of a large textbook. It looked just like the fossils of the Goa'uld queen that he and Robert had found on P3X888.

But what the heck was she doing in Kansas? On earth for that matter. The Goa'uld were alien invaders that was established. They had come to earth millennia ago and impersonated or maybe even created the various deities of ancient humans.

But Pandora's existence suggested that they had evolved here.

There were no traces of naquadah in the rock, just like the ones on 888. But which came first? Was earth invaded by the original goa'uld or had they fled earth and colonized 888?

It was a question he was hoping the carbon dating could help with.

He took the tiny vial with a sample in it and slipped it into his pocket. "Well Pandora, why don't we put you away?" he asked the rock, crossing the room and unlocking a storage container. Very few people outside of the SGC even knew of her existence, and he wanted to keep it that way for a while longer.

He turned back to get the rock and stopped at the sight of Jack standing over it, his fingers tracing the outline of the fossil almost reverently.

"Aah Jack…I though you were going to go track down a couple of SF's?" Daniel asked, a creepy feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. Jack had always refused to even touch Pandora claiming she gave him the creeps.

"What?" Jack looked up, distracted as if he had just realized he wasn't alone.

"The two guards who left the infirmary," Daniel prodded, edging towards the door. "You were mentioning something about flogging," he prompted, eyeing the panic button on the wall.

"Tomorrow after breakfast. Daniel, I need to borrow her," Jack said, picking up the fossil.

"Actually she's got a date with a lab for carbon dating," Daniel replied, abandoning the panic button to step forward to take the fossil from the man.

"It'll just be for a few minutes," Jack argued yanking Pandora back with super human strength.

"No. It won't," Daniel insisted, wrapping his hands around the rock and pulling her back.

"Daniel…"

"Jack, or whoever you are. She stays here," Daniel said, tearing the rock from Jack's grasp and backing off.

'Jack' sighed and his eyes flared with anger. "They told me you'd be the difficult one," a deep resonating voice said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_"Perfect," Sam whispered, circling the picture in the catalogue. With the wonders of technology she could call the 800 number, use her credit card and have the saddlebags delivered in time for the weekend. _

_Hearing the door open she slid the catalogue under a file and looked up, frowning a bit at the fatigue clad visitor. She'd have sworn she'd seen white in her peripheral vision._

_"Colonel. Did you need something?" He said nothing but scanned the room, as if he wanted to make certain they were alone. "Sir. Is something wrong?"_

_"Yes. You have my job," the colonel said, pulling a gun out of his pocket. Sam stared in shock, half expecting Daniel to come rushing around the corner laughing at the look on her face. She watched in slow motion as his finger pulled the trigger…the muzzle flash…the tiny projectile…felt the force slam into her chest and knock her down._

_Stunned she laid on the floor, seeing the colonel step over her and search the room._

_Rough hands gripped her chin, shaking her head. "Where is she?" he asked._

_Sam forced open eyes she hadn't realized she'd closed and tried to think. She? What she?_

_"My Queen. Where is my queen?" he asked harshly, his eyes glowing._

Sam awoke with a jerk, gasping a bit as the sudden movement tugged at her stitches. A queen. That's what it wanted. But they didn't have a…oh yes they did.

She fumbled for the radio Teal'c had left for her to use if she needed anything. "Teal'c…It's after Pandora."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Enter."

Teal'c entered the general's office noticing how at ease O'Neill looked behind the desk. He would not be surprised if the colonel inherited the command when General Hammond elected to retire.

"Teal'c. Please tell me you have something to do with Carter going AWOL from the infirmary," Jack said, clearly relieved at the Jaffa's appearance.

"Indeed. There was a second attempt upon Major Carter's life."

"What? Is she ok?" Jack asked, shooting to his feet.

"She is unharmed however due to the nature of the assailant I felt it necessary to guard her safety."

"Nature of her…"

"The assailant was able to cloak herself, thus unable to be discerned by the naked eye."

"Herself?" Jack asked, feeling like he'd just walked in on the middle of a movie.

"It spoke with a female voice," Teal'c reported.

"Something like Nirti and her invisi…thing," Jack concluded, noting the TER Teal'c was carrying.

"That would be…" Teal'c stopped as the radio he was also carrying crackled to life.

"Teal'c. It's after Pandora."

"Major Carter?" Teal'c asked, sharing Jack's puzzled look.

"I just remembered. When it shot me it asked for its queen…"

Jack shot Teal'c a horror filled look. "Daniel just went to his lab."

Both men took off at a run.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few moments later they came to a halt outside their friend's office. Jack took a quick peek around the door and felt his stomach clench at the disarray. This wasn't normal Daniel clutter; the place had been trashed.

Jack held back and let Teal'c sweep the room with the TER, hoping the alien device would reveal any shrouded enemies.

At his negative shake they cautiously entered the room. "Daniel?" Jack whispered. They were rewarded by a rustle and a muffled 'here' from under a large bookcase.

"Damn. Teal'c." The Jaffa stepped forward and helped Jack set the bookcase back upright, revealing one archaeologist buried beneath a mound of books and broken artifacts. "Daniel. You ok?" Jack asked as he and Teal'c removed the priceless rubble.

"Ouch. Yeah. At least it didn't have a ribbon device," Daniel muttered, exploring the goose egg on the back of his head. He abruptly looked past Jack at the empty place on the table. "It's got Pandora. Jack you've got to stop her."

"The mountain's locked down. She's not going anywhere," Jack reassured.

Daniel grabbed Jack's arm. "She can look just like you…and believe me, she's determined to get out of here."

Jack and Teal'c shared a look. "Go. I'm fine," Daniel stated.

"Get down to the infirmary," Jack ordered. "Teal'c, you take the gate room, I'm headed up top."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire signed the sheet, hoping she could do at least a passable imitation of O'Neill's handwriting. It had been surprisingly easy to convince the guards that the lock down had ended. Of course the fact that she was 'wearing' a colonel's uniform probably had a lot to do with it.

'Calmly. Don't blow it now,' Gil advised, picking up her urge to hurry for the gate.

'I do know what I'm doing,' she responded, annoyed at just how right he was. Despite his confidence she had a funny feeling that her time was running out. She picked up the pace to a brisk walk, grateful for the added strength that Gil gave her. The fossil they carried in a briefcase was more than a little heavy.

She flashed the fake ID at the last guard post and stepped through the chain link fence; glad to see her ride was here.

"HEY!"

She turned back to see Jack running from the tunnel, several guards in tow. She dashed forward and threw the case into the back seat.

"STOP!" he yelled.

Claire hurried to the passenger's side and opened the door. "Come on Jack. You're smarter than that," she yelled over the roof, enjoying the frustrated look on his face. "See ya colonel," she shouted as she jumped in the car, her hand waving out the window as it sped away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Here," Jack said, handing Sam a cold bottle of Diet Coke. "Doc specifically said no beer with your meds," he said, seeing the look on her face. He then took his seat across the table and picked up another slice of pizza.

Sam shrugged and took a drink then pulled another slice out of the box. They were all at Jack's house, enjoying a quiet evening of pizza and movies. Something they all agreed they hadn't done in far too long.

"When does the general come back?" Daniel asked as he took a big bite.

"His vacation is over next week," Jack said with a conspiratory grin.

"I was under the impression he was at home recovering," Teal'c said, eyeing the pizza with a frown. The allure of this

particular Tau'ri delicacy still escaped him.

"A heart attack would look bad on his record," Sam explained.

"So as far as the powers that be are concerned, he's just taking some well deserved down time," Jack continued, silently thanking Janet for her foresight in 'losing' the original files.

"How about your evil twin?" Daniel asked.

Jack shook his head. "I don't know. Both George and I have asked what questions we can but…she's a ghost."

"A ghost who's got the only evidence we have that the goa'uld were here far earlier than first suspected," Sam said.

"Not the only evidence," Daniel said, pulling the vial out of his pocket. "I was going to send this sample off…"

"Why haven't you sent it off already?" Jack asked. It was totally unlike Daniel to hold onto something that important.

"I aah…well I was going to ask if we want to go on with this or just let it drop, considering the trouble she's already caused," he said, referring to Hammond's and Sam's brushes with the grim reaper.

The quartet shared a silent moment. "I say go for it," Sam said.

"I believe the information garnered from such a test would be most beneficial."

"What he said," Jack replied, jerking his thumb at Teal'c. "We've come this far. Might as well go all the way." The rest nodded, acknowledging and accepting the risks.

"Ok. I'll send it off Monday," Daniel answered, slipping it back into his pocket.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A figure slipped silently through the recently excavated ruin paying close attention to its surroundings. As the humans would say, this was a bad neighborhood; Americans being most unwelcome this close to Iraq.

It crossed the ancient room and knelt before the chipped and scarred altar. She opened the case and drew out the fossil, laying it before her on the altar. "My queen Ninhursag, I have returned you home," a resonating voice said. "And I will not rest until we have regained the power we lost to the interlopers. This I, Gilgamesh, pledge to you," she said, drawing a knife and drawing it across her palm. "On my blood I promise you, we will regain all that we have lost."

Fin

For now. Give me a few months though.


	3. We're Off to See the Wizard

We're Off to See the Wizard

By

Denise

They watched the figure separate from the group, making his way into the trees. Communicating silently they observed the human relieving himself.

Once he was finished they surrounded and subdued him. The procedure was over quickly and he soon rejoined his comrades unaware that he had just been turned into a walking time bomb.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"P2Z383 apparently was a goa'uld world, at least that's what the architecture suggests but all our information seems to point to it being abandoned," Major Samantha Carter reported to the gathered people. SG-1 and General Hammond were seated around the briefing room table discussing their next mission.

"It's the 'seems to' part that has me worried," Colonel Jack O'Neill said, playing with his pen. He looked around the briefing room table and saw that he wasn't alone in his feelings. No one had a problem with scavenging goa'uld left overs, the problems usually started when the previous owners protested to their scavenging.

"There are no guarantees sir but the MALP has been in position for a month and there have been six UAV flyovers. In all that time we've seen no signs of life," Sam answered with a small shrug.

"The one UAV that made it into the ruins showed signs of a hurried retreat. It is possible the goa'uld left much behind," Teal'c said.

General Hammond looked at his best team seated around him. He knew the risks, they all did. True they could really use some goa'uld technology, but not at the cost of human lives. "It's your decision colonel."

Jack shared glances with his team, silently seeking their opinions. It was their lives on the line as well.

"If I can find out whose place it was…was maybe we can get an idea of how safe it is," Daniel Jackson volunteered.

Jack shrugged. "We could give it a couple of hours sir. Take a quick peek then go from there."

Hammond nodded. "Very well. You ship out at 0830 tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel followed Teal'c through the rubble-strewn corridors his eyes darting from wall to wall as he tried to decipher the hieroglyphs at a glance. He knew their only clue as to whose place this had been was literally written on the walls. But he also knew that a lengthy study was highly unlikely. True the palace looked to be abandoned but given the fact that they all had their proverbial pictures on the goa'uld post office walls, if there was the slightest chance they could have company they were going home. Maybe they could call the Tok'ra and get them to investigate the place. He dismissed that thought with a silent grim chuckle. When was the last time the Tok'ra had helped them? If this place had any goodies it was more likely they'd take it all for themselves and not share a bit.

Teal'c stopped before a large door and held up his hand motioning for them to stop. Jack stepped up from his position at the rear, leaving Sam to watch their six. "Whatcha got?"

"This is the goa'uld equivalent of the armory. If any weapons survived they will be in here."

Jack nodded. "Daniel. Any idea whose house we're burgling?"

The archaeologist shook his head. "None of the hieroglyphs I've translated mention anyone in particular."

"It does seem pretty deserted sir," Sam spoke up motioning towards their footprints clearly visible in the thick dust.

"I concur. This place has been abandoned for quite some time."

"Can your staff blow this door?"

"Not easily. These doors were designed to be resistant to such weaponry."

"Figures. Carter, bring your C-4?"

"Yes sir," Sam replied.

"Sweet. All yours," he said, taking her position at the junction of the two corridors. "Just don't bring the place down."

She slipped off her pack and made short work of attaching a small charge to the locking mechanism. A few minutes later they were waving their hands to clear the dust from the air as they pushed the heavy doors open.

The room was large, about forty feet square, its high ceiling supported by half a dozen columns. Arranged neatly in tall rows were shelf after shelf of weapons, zats, staff weapons and various other things Jack couldn't identify at a glance. "Holy buckets," he muttered looking at all the booty.

With Sam watching the door the three men explored the armory. "There are enough zats for everyone at the SGC to have one," Daniel said.

"And staff weapons and stun grenades…oh my," Jack said.

"And tacs," Teal'c reported, opening a box.

"This oughta keep the NID off our backs," Sam said from the doorway.

"Yeah. If we can get it out of here without the owner getting wind of it."

"I don't think that'll be a problem Jack," Daniel said from across the room.

"Why?" Jack asked, joining him.

"Because unless someone's opened a direct line to hell the owner's dead," he reported picking up a small golden figurine from a tiny altar in the corner of the room.

"Is that who I think it is?"

"Yeah. It was Hathor."

"Cool. That bitch owes us."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So you're saying this was Hathor's planet?" George asked, picking up the small gold figurine Daniel had brought back.

"Yes sir. Possibly a home world or something."

"It is not uncommon for goa'uld to have several worlds under their control and unknown to the other system lords to which they can flee or store weapons," Teal'c said.

"Like a secret base," Sam said.

"Or a bat cave," Jack interjected gaining him several eye rolls.

"I see," George replied distractedly. Jack watched the older man as he sat at the head of the table. He fiddled with the figurine running his fingers up and down its surface almost as though he was caressing it.

They sat there for another minute in expectant silence. "Sir?" Jack prodded.

George shook his head. "Ooh. Dismissed," he said, getting to his feet.

"Sir?" Sam asked, glancing at Jack. "Aren't we going back to the planet?"

"Yes sir. There are enough toys there to keep the NID off our backs for months. And that's just in the one room. We have no idea what else might be there."

"Yes of course," Hammond replied, turning to go to his office.

"General," Jack protested stepping towards the man. "We thought we'd go back…I dunno, now?"

"I see no reason for that colonel. Major Carter, how long did you estimate the planet had been abandoned?"

"Likely several hundred years, possible ever since Hathor was marooned on earth," she answered, giving Jack an apologetic look.

"Then I see no reason why this can't wait until tomorrow," he said with a definite note of finality in his voice.

Jack watched him go into his office and close the door, then turned to the rest of his team. "I don't get this. I know for a fact the NID's been on his six about getting stuff."

"He does sorta have a point sir. If noone's come looking for the weapons in centuries, what are the chances they will in the next twelve hours?" Sam said lamely. Though in truth she was as puzzled by the general's behavior as the rest of them were.

"With the fortunes we experience," Teal'c said, raising his eyebrow. "We should have transported the material immediately upon its discovery."

"You're saying with our luck it'll be gone by morning?" Jack translated.

"Is that not what I said?" Teal'c responded as Sam and Daniel struggled to contain themselves.

"Let's go before they get started," Sam said, ushering Daniel out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The ringing of the phone dragged Jack out of his slumber. If you could call falling asleep in front of the TV slumber. He answered on the third ring after digging in the couch cushions for the phone. "O'Neill," he growled.

"Sir. Sergeant Davis. We have a situation here."

"What is it?" Jack asked instantly awake trying to think of what could go wrong.

"Sir. I have two members of the NID here. They have orders to take Teal'c."

"What! That's bullshit. Call Hammond…"

"Sir…" Davis interrupted. "General Hammond signed the order," he said, disbelief clear in his voice.

Jack thought for a moment, shocked into silence. George had been acting strangely earlier but…"Ok. I'm on my way in. Call Carter and Daniel and do not let them take Teal'c anywhere, I don't care if you have to sit on them," he ordered.

Forty minutes later he hurried down the corridors nearly pushing unfortunate airmen out of his way. This had to be some kind of sick joke. There was just no way in hell Hammond would sell Teal'c out. Over the past four years the man had done everything he could to keep Teal'c out of the NID's clutches including standing orders that the front gate was to notify him when they crossed the first check point to allowing the jaffa carte blanche to retreat to the Land of Light should everything else fail.

Spying the pair of strangers in the briefing room he paused for a second and slipped on his 'I can kill you with my bare hands' look. He strode purposefully into the room. "Can SOMEONE tell me what the hell is so important that you have to show up like thieves in the night to kidnap my jaffa?" he demanded not all of his ire feigned.

"Colonel O'Neill I presume. I'm Colonel Calvert and this is Major Ganzer," the apparent leader of the duo proclaimed, relatively unphased by Jack's bluster.

Jack nodded. "What's this I hear about orders to take Teal'c? You know we've been through this before. He's a valued member of the SGC and on my team. He's not your personal guinea pig."

"Yes sir. We know. Which is why we called to confirm these orders," Calvert said, handing Jack a slip of paper. "I spoke to General Hammond myself not four hours ago. He confirmed the transfer. In fact he demanded that we retrieve Teal'c tonight."

Jack studied the paper. It sure as hell looked like George's handwriting. But it couldn't be. "Look Colonel. There has to be a mistake."

"Maybe so. But my orders are clear. I am to have Teal'c away from this base by morning," Calvert insisted. Jack took a good look at the man. Unlike their previous encounters with the NID, he appeared reluctant to take Teal'c. In fact he looked to be as puzzled as Jack was.

Jack sighed. This was a battle he couldn't win, not with the ammunition he had at the moment. "Look," he repeated. "Let me get a hold of Hammond. We can clear this whole mess up."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam kicked the door shut with her foot, trying not to spill the groceries she was carrying. It seemed silly to stock up right before going off world again but she knew she couldn't survive forever on take out and canned pop. Besides the mission to retrieve the weapons should be a nice and easy in and out and she'd likely be sleeping in her own bed tomorrow night.

She put the groceries away and turned on the oven, popping in a frozen pizza before stripping off her jacket and hanging it in the hall. Looking at her watch she realized she'd have time for a quick bath before her dinner was ready. She headed up the stairs and started the tub. She walked back down the hall, unbuttoning her fatigue shirt as she went.

Sam sat on the edge of the bed, unlacing her boots, the sound of the running water masking the faint sound of footsteps coming down the hall. Tossing her boots aside and peeling off her socks she stood up and let out a small scream at the figure silhouetted in the doorway. Fear gave way to relief then puzzlement as she recognized him. "Sir? What are you doing here?" Recognition changed to terror as he came towards her, the light from the hall glinting off the knife in his hand.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack slammed the phone down for the third time in as many minutes. "Where the hell is he?" he muttered, checking the list again. He'd already tried George's house, his daughter's house, the man's pager and cell phone. All to naught.

Which was an even odder piece to this already baffling puzzle. The old man was never out of communication. Never.

For someone of a remarkable spry sixty-five he kept hours that would exhaust a younger man. In fact the most time he'd taken off in the past five years had been Fraiser's enforced medical leave after the drug induced heart attack of a month ago.

Maybe there'd been complication to that Fraiser hadn't thought of.  He had been acting odd in the briefing. Jack knew he was grasping at straws but he tended to grasp when he was desperate.

Jack picked up the phone to summon a couple of SF's and send them to Hammond's house. He'd rather go himself but he was afraid if he did he'd return to find Teal'c Nevada bound or worse, vanished.

'Medical Emergency Level 19, Lab 6'

'Medical Emergency Level 19, Lab 6'

Recognizing the location Jack dropped the phone, not hearing the voice on the other end.

Five minutes later he skidded to a halt outside Daniel's office, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of the gathered personnel milling about. It reminded him of the last time he'd driven by a car wreck. He pushed his way through the small crowd and stopped dead at the sight of Fraiser leaning over an all too familiar figure. "Doc?" he asked, kneeling beside her. "What the hell is going on?"

"I just came to empty the trash like I do every night and found him," the janitor answered before Fraiser could.

"Did you see anything Ez?" he asked the old man who had been their janitor from the first days of the SGC.

"No sir. Nothing. It was nice and quiet like," the man reported, his worry clear on his face.

Jack nodded. "Doc? How is he?" Jack asked as the woman directed a pair of onlookers to put Daniel on a gurney. His friend was unconscious, his face covered in blood. Janet had apparently cut off his shirt to check for injuries and Jack could see the beginnings of horrendous bruises all over his back and chest, some already a livid purple red.

Janet stood back as the airmen started to wheel Daniel out of the room. "It's…not good sir. I'll know more when I can examine him further," she said.

Jack nodded his dismissal and then stood there as the last of the onlookers left. What the hell was going on? First Hammond turned Teal'c over to the NID then someone used Daniel as a punching bag. Jesus it was like a few weeks ago when the imposter was running around…Trying not to trip over the scattered debris he hurried to the phone and yanked the receiver off the hook. "Castleman. Get someone over to Major Carter's house. I want her back here if you have to drag her in in her pajamas," he ordered. Maybe he was over reacting but something told him it was time to circle the wagons.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Major Thomas Castleman knocked on Sam's door, relieved to see lights still shining through the curtained windows. Despite the late hour she had to still be awake.

"Maybe she's in the tub or something?" Captain Martinez suggested, walking across the porch to peer in the windows.

"Yeah. Well O'Neill wants her back ASAP," Castleman said, pounding again. This time the door glided open. The two men shared looks and simultaneously drew their weapons. They slowly entered the house, their ears perking at the faint sound of running water.

"Son of a…" Martinez exclaimed hurrying across the room. He knelt beside the prone figure feeling for a pulse. "She's still alive," he said, grimacing at all the blood.

"Not for much longer," Castleman said, kneeling beside him. "We gotta get her back to the base."

"But a hospital…"

"Will ask too many questions and is too far away. We can have her in the infirmary in fifteen minutes."

Martinez nodded, getting to his feet and yanking a quilt off the sofa to wrap her in. He picked Sam up trying not to jar the unconscious woman too much.

"NO!" a voice screamed. Both men turned to see a blood covered figure rushing towards them his knife held high. Barely registering whom it was Castleman squeezed off two shots, dropping the assailant in his tracks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack ran down the halls, Teal'c hot on his heels. He slid into the infirmary ignoring the pair of armed guards. "Castleman?" he demanded.

"Sir. We went to get Major Carter like you asked. We found her unconscious in her living room…there was blood…" Castleman shook his head as if to clear the image. "We were bringing her back here when…we were attacked." He pointed to the unconscious figure of General Hammond handcuffed to a bed.

"There has to be some mistake…"

"Sir," Martinez interrupted. "He came after us with this." The man held up a blood covered military issue knife in a plastic bag.

Jack took the knife and stared at it, swallowing hard. Just then the curtains opened and Janet walked out, slowly pulling off her crimson stained gloves. The same garish color was liberally splattered on her normally pristine lab coat.

"Doc?" She looked up at him, a dazed look on her face. He felt his stomach sink. "You are NOT going to say what I think you're going to say."

"Doctor Fraiser. What is the condition of Major Carter?" Teal'c demanded.

"I…Colonel…I regret…"

"No."

"Sir she…" Janet paused and took a deep breath. "Major Carter passed away at 0152," she said, tears running down her face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm sorry sir. There was just too much damage. Maybe if they'd found her earlier but…" She trailed off. It had been an hour since she'd tried to save her friend and still couldn't quite believe whose name was on the death certificate.

"It's ok doc. I know you did your best," Jack said flatly, reading the report. The doctor had identified at least twenty different stab wounds. Teal'c would have had a hard time surviving that. "What about Hammond?"

"He'll survive sir. There was one wound to his thigh and another to his shoulder. We have him sedated right now. Though him living through this might not be a good thing," she answered, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"Any idea what sent him off the deep end?" Jack asked. Maybe he could get George's last order rescinded on grounds of mental incompetence. It was worth a shot anyway.

"I was wondering that sir. I did DNA tests. It is our Hammond. I ran an MRI looking for a goa'uld or maybe a tumor or something to explain it all. I found this." She handed him a sheet of paper.

Jack recognized the rough shape of a human skull. He shook his head. It was too late to play twenty questions. "Tell me what I'm looking at."

"The same as this." She handed him another piece of paper. They were obviously different people but both had similarities. "This one is General Hammond. This is Martouf's post mortem exam."

Jack looked again seeing the similarity. "Hammond was a zatarc? That's not possible. He's only been off world twice for cryin out loud."

"But the second time WAS on a goa'uld occupied world when he went to Chulak then to Hathor's planet. You guys were there for several hours after your rescue. And from what little Anise told me, the zatarc procedure only takes a couple of minutes."

"Ok. Let's assume that's where he got zapped. How do we fix it?"

Janet shook her head. "I don't think you can sir. The best Anise could offer was a maybe."

Jack sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. It just kept getting better and better. "What about Daniel? And it damn well better be good news."

"He's got three broken ribs, but no internal bleeding which is good. He's also got a dislocated shoulder, which will heal fine in a few weeks…" she trailed off.

"I'm sensing a but here."

"Once he…was down…he was kicked. A lot. His kidneys are badly bruised and…I'm worried about his spine. He can't feel his legs right now. The x-rays don't show any fractures but we won't know for sure until the swelling goes down. Teal'c's with him."

Jack silently nodded trying to wrap his brain around all that had happened in the last few hours. "Sir?" Janet interrupted his thoughts. "Maybe we should call Jacob. He deserves to know."

Jack buried his head in his hands. "Yeah. That'll be fun. Excuse me Selmac can you keep Jake from killing me when I tell him his best friend hacked his…." He stopped not wanting to continue.

"Excuse me Colonel. We need you in the control room," Sergeant Davis said from the door.

"Davis what is it?" Jack asked impatiently in no mood for another emergency.

"Sir...please…" he said, a distressed look on his face.

Sharing a look with Janet, Jack got up and followed the sergeant through the briefing room and down the stairs.

"You will dial up these coordinates." He heard Teal'c say.

"My God Teal'c. What are you doing?" Janet demanded, reaching the bottom of the stairs and seeing the jaffa standing in the control room. He was carrying a quilt wrapped human size bundle. It took Jack a second to realize what…who his friend was carrying.

"Teal'c…buddy. Whatcha doing?" Jack asked trying to stay calm.

"We must return to P2Z383," Teal'c stated, his voice resolute.

"We will. Soon but…why don't you let us take Carter back…to the infirmary," Jack cajoled wondering vaguely if his friend had lost his mind.

"O'Neill you do not understand. It is very likely that Hathor left behind a sarcophagus in addition to the weapons. It may as yet revive Major Carter but we must move quickly."

"Teal'c I know a sarcophagus can work wonders but…" Janet started.

"I have seen people revived hours after death, but the longer we tarry the less the chances of success."

Jack looked at Janet and saw the glimmer of hope in her eyes. A look shared by the personnel in the control room. "Doc. Get Danny and Hammond ready to travel."

"Colonel. They're in no condition…"

"Look doc. You said it yourself. You can't do much for either of them. There's no cure for Hammond short of a lobotomy. Give him this," Jack said quietly looking her in the eyes.

Her eyes bounced from Teal'c to Jack and back. It was a slim chance…but SG-1 seemed to thrive on slim chances. "It'll take me fifteen minutes to get Doctor Jackson and the general mobile." She gave in.

"Ok. Go." Janet turned and hurried from the room. "Dial it up," Jack ordered Davis.

"You go," he turned to Teal'c. "See if you can find a sarcophagus and put Carter in it. We'll be along in a few."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack came through the gate and quickly stepped aside to clear the way for the corpsmen he knew would be following him. As if on cue two SF's came through the gate carrying Daniel's unconscious form on a stretcher. They were followed immediately by two more, though this time their burden was strapped to the stretcher, not for his own protection but everyone else's. Janet came through last carrying her bag. "Teal'c?" Jack called.

"I am here O'Neill," the jaffa said from the doorway. Jack didn't know if he was relieved or worried that the man was alone.

"Carter?"

"I found the sarcophagus and placed Major Carter in it. I will take you there."

Jack nodded and the group followed Teal'c through the dusty halls. Several minutes and two levels later they entered a rather nondescript room. The sarcophagus sat in a raised dais in the center of the room but the rest of it was plain and unadorned. The only illumination was torches burning in the corners that Teal'c must have lit. The SF's set their burdens down on the floor and Janet kneeled on the floor to check them.

"Go secure the gate," Jack ordered the men. "If there's any signs of trouble beat it home." With a nod and salute they retreated, leaving the trio alone.

"Colonel, are you sure it's wise to send them away?"

"Doc, if this plays out a worse case scenario those men don't need to witness it. Teal'c, when do we know if it'll work?" he asked, motioning towards the humming machine.

"If a sarcophagus is not capable of healing a person it usually rejects them in the first few minutes."

Jack sat on a step staring at Janet and her charges. Was he doing the right thing? Should he really be trying to undo things like this, use the alien technology to basically hit a big reset switch and make things like they were before? What if it didn't work? Or what if Carter came out of this a vegetable? That wasn't fair to her. She deserved better than to be consigned to some nursing home for the rest of her life. What about Daniel? What if the sarcophagus didn't fix him? What if this little galactic road trip just made it worse? Sure he could do his job in the safety of a lab but…Jack knew he thrived when he could go out and touch, feel and experience the history he was translating. And Hammond. Was he doing the old man a favor or just makings things worse? If they managed to get him un-zatarced how would he live with what he'd done? Attacking Daniel, turning Teal'c over to the NID and Carter…Jack remembered the guilt he'd felt when his decision to raid Apophis' ships had gotten Daniel killed and he hadn't even pulled the trigger. From the brief reports from Castleman and Martinez Carter had put up a hell of a fight.

He knew George was fond of her that he almost looked upon her as a daughter. How would the old man live with murdering that daughter?

A grating, rasping sound pulled him out of his thoughts. He got to his feet as Janet and Teal'c hurried forward. The top of the sarcophagus slid slowly open and the doctor barely waited until she had clearance to stick her arm in, feeling Sam's neck for a pulse. She frowned then pulled her stethoscope from around her neck and placed the ends in her ears.

"Doc?"

She closed her eyes and smiled slightly. "There's a heartbeat. Faint but it's there. Teal'c, I need her out of this thing." He obligingly bent over, picked Sam up, carried her over and laid her on the floor by Daniel, still wrapped in the quilt from her house.

"Should we not place Daniel Jackson into the chamber?"

Janet looked at Jack who shrugged. She glanced down at her now alive friend, the same woman she'd pronounced dead just a few hours before. "Go ahead," she instructed.

Working as a pair Jack and Teal'c soon had Daniel into the sarcophagus. The lid slid shut and Jack turned back to Janet who had just finished putting an IV in Sam's blood smeared arm. "Doc?" he asked, kneeling beside her.

"I don't know for sure," she replied, answering his unspoken question. "She's alive and all the damage is repaired, even the gun shot wound from a few weeks ago."

"Then why isn't she waking up?"

"Her blood pressure is dangerously low. That's why I started the IV. She'll be ok for now but we need to get her back and transfuse her. I can only guess a sarcophagus repairs wounds but can't create new tissue."

Jack nodded. "Once Daniel is done I want you and Teal'c to get her and Daniel back."

"What about you and the general?"

"If this doesn't fix him…" he left the rest unsaid.

Janet met his gaze then glanced at the zat at his hip, and nodded. "I understand sir," she said quietly giving him her support. She knew Hammond would either return to them cured…or not at all. Jack would protect the older man as steadfastly as he had protected them.

"O'Neill." Jack turned to see Teal'c standing by the sarcophagus which was opening again.

"That was fast. Did you have it set on speed heal?"

"A sarcophagus is capable of healing a human in minutes," he said as the lid opened fully.

Jack bent over as Daniel's eyes fluttered open. "Oh God. Not again," he muttered, pushing himself to a sitting position. "Teal'c. You were supposed to put Sam in here not me," he accused, trepidation creeping over his face.

"You should be ok Daniel," Janet called.

"The addictive side effects seem to manifest only when a healthy person uses the device Daniel Jackson," Teal'c reassured.

"And you were far from healthy when we put you in here," Jack said helping him out of the machine.

"What about Sam?" the archaeologist asked urgently.

"She is alive," Teal'c reported and Daniel slumped visibly in relief.

"Thank God," he muttered sitting on the steps, not yet noticing he was wearing only a hospital gown.

"So this was your idea?"

"Yeah. Once Teal'c told me…" His eyes darted to the prone form of the general.

Jack saw fear cross his friend's features. "What happened?"

Daniel scrubbed his hand over his face. "Umm…He came to my lab. I asked him about the statue; told him I needed it back. The next thing I know he's tossing me across the room and…" he paused shuddering. "He kept going on about me killing his queen, how she desired revenge and had sent him…God Jack he was…"

"We think he was zatarc'd," Jack interrupted.

"When? He never goes off world."

"He came to Chulak to inform me of your capture by Hathor. And we journeyed to Hathor's planet. It is likely he was implanted there," Teal'c said, hoping he could dismiss the possibility of such a danger existing on earth.

"Sirs," Janet called. "We need to get Sam back. If she doesn't get medical treatment soon…" she let her threat fade.

"Teal'c. Help me with Hammond then take them home," Jack ordered, getting to his feet.

"Jack we can't leave you…"

"Daniel…"

"Daniel Jackson. This is a Tau'ri honor thing," Teal'c interrupted, holding out a pair of fatigue pants to the young man who took them with a frown. "Though I believe many of the female members of the SGC would find it enjoyable, you may wish to traverse the wormhole more properly attired."

Daniel blushed as he realized his state of undress and was momentarily glad Sam was unconscious. She'd never let him live it down. He pulled on the pants and padded over to Janet as Jack and Teal'c placed Hammond into the sarcophagus. The stretcher he was bound to wouldn't fit so they laid him in the box with his hands cuffed in front of him.

"General Hammond is a warrior. He would prefer Shel'ka'ren to a life in prison," Teal'c said quietly as the lid shut again.

"I know," Jack replied quietly needing no translation for the term.

"If you wish I can escort the others to the Stargate then return," Teal'c offered.

"Thanks but this is something I need to do," he said, patting Teal'c on the arm.

"As you wish." Teal'c nodded solemnly. He turned and once again gathered Sam in his arms. "We shall await your return," he said as they exited the room, leaving Jack alone with the sarcophagus.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack flipped back the cover of his watch and massaged the back of his neck. 0515. Damn he'd been up all night. No wonder his eyes were burning. He was too danged old to be pulling all nighters. He'd leave those to Carter and Daniel.

The lid of the sarcophagus opened again and he jumped to his feet, priming the zat. He saw George slowly struggle to sit up, his movements hampered by the cuffs on his wrists. Clearly puzzled he scanned the room; relief turning to a frown as he saw Jack then focussed on the zat in his hand.

"Colonel. What's going on? Where am I?"

"You tell me sir," Jack replied, keeping his distance.

"Jack, I'm in no mood for…" he started then stopped, his round face turning white.

_I don't give a damn. I want that alien the hell off my base_

_You spurned her! How dare you? Do you not know the honor of being a Beloved? You do not deserve to live._

_I am so sick of you. Jacob's little brat. If it weren't for you so many would still be alive. My queen would still be alive._

He looked down at his bound hands as the memories flooded in. "Oh my god I…Please tell me I didn't do it," he pleaded.

"Wish I could general," Jack said quietly. "How do you feel? Any homicidal or suicidal urges?"

George didn't reply but continued to stare at his hand. Though his wounds had been treated no one had had time to clean him up. His hands were still smeared with blood.

_The faint crack of ribs giving way under his feet._

The dull scrape as the knife blade rasped against a bone on its way in. The sucking sound it made on its way out. The tears on her face as she begged him to stop.

"Doctor Jackson? Sam?" He whispered.

"They're both ok," Jack reassured. He moved in and lowered his zat, reaching for the keys to the cuffs. The raw anguish on the man's face reassuring him that the programming had been erased.

"No," George said, pulling his hands away.

"General."

"I killed them. I…they're under my command. I'm supposed to protect them and …she begged me to stop…so did he…"

"Stop it!" Jack ordered shaking the man's shoulders. "It wasn't you. It was some damn program in your head."

"No. I remember…"

"Did you blame Carter for almost blowing up the gateroom when she had Jolinar?"

"No."

"Then stop. It WASN'T you," Jack said, looking him straight in the eyes.

George closed his eyes briefly. "Yes it was Colonel," he said quietly. "Which makes it my mess to clean up," he said, holding out his hands. "And that is not something I can do from here."

Jack unlocked the cuffs and helped the man out of the sarcophagus. Like Daniel he was clad only in a thin gown. A quick glance revealed that Janet had provided pajama bottoms, which he quickly pulled on. "Here sir," Jack said, holding out the blanket that had been covering him. "Those gowns aren't much protection from a wormhole." George wrapped it around his shoulders, grateful for the warmth. "Let's go home sir," Jack said gently, holstering the zat at his hip.

With a nod Hammond followed him, looking more like a war refugee than a general with his haunted visage and bare feet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Unauthorized incoming wormhole," Davis said, fighting a yawn. He was nearly half way through his second shift in a row, but like many others at the SGC he couldn't go home, not yet. He had to be here to see how this played out.

"Close the iris," Major General Kensington ordered.

"Receiving iris code. It's SG-1 sir," Davis said to the stranger he'd just been told was his new superior, making no move to follow his orders.

"Security to the gateroom," the general ordered coldly. He marched down the steps and past the marines, unwittingly mocking Hammond's place at the base of the ramp.

The gate discharged its travelers with a slurping sound and closed with a snap. "Looks like we have company sir," Jack said, helping the general down the ramp.

"Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond I presume," Kensington said harshly, feigning stupidity. He knew exactly who the men were. And exactly what he was going to do to them.

"Speaking. And you are?" Jack asked, as Hammond remained silent.

"Major General Robert Kensington. Colonel O'Neill I am hearby placing you under arrest for disobeying orders, gross dereliction of duty, being AWOL and anything else I can find," The general said, motioning to the SF's to disarm Jack. "General Hammond, I am hearby relieving you of your command until the incidents of the last few days can be thoroughly investigated." He turned to the SF's. "Once they clear the infirmary take them to level 16," he ordered, then turned on his heel and left the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A cell phone rang, shattering the stillness of the chill desert night. "Yes?" a robed figure said, silently marveling at the technology of satellite phones in allowing a signal to reach even this remote corner of the Iraqi desert.

"We control the gate. Summon the others."

"We will be there," the woman answered, a smile crossing her face for the first time in weeks.

She walked into the temple, squinting at the sudden brightness of the torch lit room compared to the neat total darkness of outside. "Gather your belongings. We are going home."

Her comrades got to their feet, hurrying to gather their meager possessions. It was the day they had been hoping for. And it had come far quicker than anticipated. The fates were truly smiling upon them.

She crossed the room and knelt before the altar, gazing reverently at the rock displayed there. The fossilized bones of her queen gleamed dully in the flickering light. "We are going home my queen," she said, bowing her head. Her eyes flared. "And nothing is going to stand in our way," Gilgamesh pledged. "Nothing."

Fin


	4. Traitors, Fossils and Goa'uld, Oh My!

Traitors and Fossils and Goa'ulds…Oh My

By

Denise

Daniel exited the elevator and walked down the bare corridor nodding at the personnel he passed.

"Howdy Doctor Jackson," Sergeant Phelps said, using his card to open the door for him.

"Morning Sergeant. Thanks. Here you go," Daniel said, handing the man a cup of coffee.

"Thanks Doc. Hope you got something in there to keep him occupied," he said taking a sip.

"Bad night?"

The sergeant pointed at the pile of paper airplanes in the corner. "Cabin fever. If it keeps up there won't be an intact memo left in the place."

"Aah. Thanks for the warning."

"Yell if you need anything Doc," the man said, closing the door behind him and leaving Daniel alone with the sole occupant of the cell. It felt almost surreal to be visiting Jack this way. Normally if the man was behind bars the rest of the team was in there with him, usually on some backwater planet where one of them had done something to tick off the natives.

Instead Jack was in the cell where he'd been escorted after returning from his self appointed mission to fix a nightmare. True, the gate wasn't their personal toy and every time it was used explanations had to be made but…well he'd have thought that bringing Sam back to life, deprogramming General Hammond and possibly saving Daniel from permanent handicap status would have been enough to mollify the Pentagon.

However Jack's current status as jailbird was physical proof that maybe it wasn't enough, this time.

"Morning Jack," he said, forcing a cheerful note into his voice. The colonel ignored him, staying as he was, lying on his back, his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. Daniel knew he wasn't asleep. First of all it was after 9am and second Jack was one of those annoying people who could march ten miles, sleep five hours then be up at dawn ready to go ten more. Cooped up as he'd been, allowed out once a day for a shower and change of clothes., Daniel considered it a miracle he hadn't gone totally stir crazy.

"Brought you breakfast," he continued, ignoring the lack of response. He held out a bag from a donut shop his friend liked to frequent through the bars along with a large Styrofoam cup of coffee.

He stood there feeling more than a little stupid until Jack rolled off the bunk, crossed the cell in three steps and took the food. "Thanks," he muttered, sitting back on the bunk. He took the lid off the cup and sniffed it, closing his eyes appreciatively. "One thing hasn't changed around here. The coffee still sucks." He took a sip, set the cup down and dug into the sack for a donut. "News?"

Daniel shrugged. "Still nothing from Teal'c."

Jack nodded. That was to be expected. Daniel had told him how Calvert had taken him away, at least not in chains this time. Though that didn't make much difference. Jack had read some of the NID's proposals, the tests they wanted to run. He feared their clinical research would be harder for the Jaffa to endure than anything the goa'uld could come up with.

"How's Carter?"

"Janet released her yesterday."

"And?" Jack asked, sensing that there was more to the story.

"She's…aah…freaked," Daniel wavered, searching for just the right term for his friend's behavior.

"Freaked?"

"She won't discuss it. Says she doesn't remember anything."

"It's possible…"

"But the way she wakes up screaming sorta suggests otherwise."

Jack sighed, not having to work too hard to imagine what his teammate was going through. Even after ten years he still had nightmares of his time in Iraq. And his assailants had been anonymous bullies.

"Maybe I could talk to her…"

"She won't come in here. You know that," Daniel reminded. Jack was housed in the same cell they'd put Sam in while she'd been blended with Jolinar. Even three years later she wouldn't cross the threshold.

"Yeah. How about Hammond?"

"Officially?" Jack nodded. "Officially he's been cleared of all charges and is taking a sabbatical. Scuttlebutt has it that he's resigned."

"Damn it," Jack cursed quietly, getting to his feet. It was what he'd been expecting but had been hoping he would be wrong. "Daniel," he said urgently, stopping by the bars. "I need you to make a few calls for me."

"I aah…I did."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"Who did you call?"

"Major Davis, General Vidrine…"

"If we want answers we need to cut the crap and go directly to…"

"Did you know they have an operator on the other end of the red phone 24/7?"

"You used the red phone?"

"Yeah. Snuck in late last night while he was grabbing some dinner," he said smiling at the tiny conspiracy that had taken place. Once Kensington had left his office he'd been besieged by at least a dozen people who had urgent questions that just HAD to be answered then. Between Sergeants Siler and Davis and the rest, the general's 'quick bite' turned into a ninety-minute ordeal.

"Daniel. That phone…"

"Is a direct line to the White House. I know."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Well what happened?" Jack asked in exasperation.

"He was busy."

"Who was busy?"

"All of them."

"All of them?"

"Yeah," Daniel affirmed with a grimace.

"Did you?"

"I left a message."

"You left…"

"Sorta."

"What's sorta?"

"Well I didn't think it would be prudent to say I think the new general is a crackpot and makes Bauer look good…"

"Daniel…"

"Or that he's tearing this place apart…"

"Daniel…"

"So I settled for 'It's important can he call me back', which means I'll never hear from them," he finished with a shrug.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Daniel just…be careful," he pleaded.

"I am."

"No. I mean CAREFUL," Jack said, enunciating the word. "I don't exactly have the Air Force roster memorized but I've never heard of a Robert Kensington."

"Jack. Just because you've never heard…"

"Daniel trust me. After almost twenty years in the service you learn names. I've never heard of Kensington," he said urgently.

Daniel's eyes grew wide. "Imposter?" he whispered.

Jack shrugged. "I don't know. All I do know is he's up to something."

The archaeologist thought for a minute. "We are due to get some transfers."

"What?"

"Davis told me. The day after tomorrow. Six new faces."

Jack felt the back of his neck crawl. This wasn't good. They were fully staffed at the moment. And it was odd to get so many new personnel at once. Not into a facility as highly classified at the SGC. A normal background check took weeks not days. "Get a hold of Hammond, ask him what's going on. If he can't help us maybe he'll know who to call."

"General Hammond's dropped off the face of the earth. Janet said she went over to check on him and his house is closed up."

Jack thought a minute. "Ask Carter. George and Jacob go way back. Maybe she knows of some retreat of his or something. But watch your back," Jack warned. "Something tells me there's a lot more going on than we know about."

Daniel nodded seriously, turned and knocked on the door, signaling his desire to leave.

"I'll be back later," he said as Sergeant Phelps opened the door for him. "Unless of course you've got plans," he quipped.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Teal'c sat on the floor of his cell, listening to the facility wake up. Though it was appointed much the same as his room at the SGC, like O'Neill he considered any room in which he was locked a cell.

He found the events of the last few days were rather confusing. Given his past encounters with the NID he'd expected an arduous experience. But his treatment had been rather decent. Immediately upon his arrival he was escorted to his room where he spent an uninterrupted night. During the next two days he had been mostly left alone except for interrogation sessions.

Considering the attitudes he'd experienced before, he had steeled himself for treatment bordering on torture. However these interview sessions had been reminiscent of his original debriefing when he'd first come to the SGC. The personnel would question him for a few hours about planets, addresses, relations between the various goa'uld and other bits of intelligence. They had simply written down his comments, then had the guards escort him back to his room. All in all his treatment had been incredibly civil.

He did not know if this was evidence of a change in the NID's behavior or if they were simply lulling him into a false sense of security.

The lock on the door rattled and he opened his eyes expecting the sergeant who normally escorted him. Instead a different officer was at the door. "On your feet," he ordered.

Teal'c gracefully gained his feet and stood before the man. "Come with me."

Teal'c followed him into the hall noticing that they were headed a different way. "To where are we going?"

"You'll find out when we get there," the man said coldly. Teal'c followed him, taking note of which corridors he chose. They were headed for a part of the facility he had never been to before, either in the last couple of days or in his previous visit in the company of the rest of SG-1.

The man swiped a key card in a lock and motioned for Teal'c to precede him through the door. He entered the room, steadying himself as he recognized it as an infirmary.

"Put this on," the Sergeant ordered, tossing a gown at him.

"I am healthy and in no need of an examination," Teal'c said, catching the gown.

"Look buddy. I don't care if you're Duncan MacLeod; the orders say you're spending the day here…so you're spending the day here. Now change before I have to get someone to help you change."

With a shrug Teal'c started removing his clothing, carefully folding it into a pile on the bed. As soon as he was changed, the guard took his discarded clothing and left the room, leaving him alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel peeked around the edge of the door to Sam's lab, not at all surprised to find her there. If he had learned nothing about his friend in the last five years he'd learned that she and he shared a common behavior. Both of them tended to bury themselves in their work, especially when they needed an escape from reality. In the weeks after Shau'ri's death he'd literally spent days in his office. And after Martouf's death Sam had spent so much time in her lab Jack had threatened to have her bodily removed.

"You know I don't think Janet considers this rest," he said, walking into the room.

"Daniel. Hi," she answered with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I thought you were supposed to go home?" He knew exactly what the doctor's instructions had been, he'd been waiting for Sam on the other side of the privacy curtain as she'd gotten dressed.

'I don't care if the sarcophagus healed every damaged cell, you were still dead. We're not talking Miracle Max and mostly dead here, we're talking about completely dead. I just shredded your death certificate,' Janet said with a catch in her voice. 'And despite how many times that's happened it's still tough on the human body. I want you to go home and get some rest.'

"I've only been here a couple of hours and I'm not tired," Sam protested.

"If you've been here a couple of hours you must have gotten up at the crack of dawn to make the drive…you stayed on the base last night didn't you?" he accused, knowing the answer before the guilty look in her face gave her away.

"I didn't feel like driving," She shrugged.

He gave her an appraising look before mentally slapping himself on the head. Returning to where he'd been murdered wouldn't be high on his list of things to do. He'd certainly had more than a few bad feelings going back to his office, the memories of General Hammond attacking him were still very vivid. He'd been so busy with useless phone calls he hadn't even noticed she hadn't gone home.

"Sam. I'm sure it will be tough going back there but you have to go home sometime. You can't live on the base."

"Was there something you needed?" she asked abruptly, ruthlessly changing the subject.

He sighed. He recognized her stubborn mood, a trait that she and Jack shared, although neither would admit to it. He knew from past experience that if he pushed her she'd just clam up tighter. "We need to find General Hammond," he said.

Her eyes grew cold and she turned back to her work. "I'm sure his numbers are on file."

"They are. We've tried them. He's not anywhere that we know about."

"Well, maybe there's a reason for that," she replied, tinkering with a small alien device.

"Jack thought maybe you would know of some hideout or getaway or something."

"Why would I know where he is?"

"He thought that since he and your dad are friends…"

"Oh. Just because my dad used to hang around with him I'm supposed to be privy to all his secrets?" she asked bitterly, slamming the device down on the workbench.

"No," he said evenly. "I just thought maybe you'd heard of somewhere over the years."

"No Daniel. I haven't. Contrary to popular belief I don't know everything."

"Sam. Finding the general is our only chance of getting this mess cleared up."

"It'll all be fine."

"Yeah. It's fine. Jack is locked up, Teal'c is stuck in Area 51, we hope. God only knows what they're doing to him," He replied angrily.

"If you're looking for someone with friends in high places, talk to the colonel. He has more connections than I do. And I'm sure Teal'c will be fine," She dismissed, picking the artifact back up.

"Ok," he gave in, attributing her behavior to the trauma of being stabbed and left for dead. He turned to leave, then stopped and reached into his pocket, pulling out his house keys. He took one off the ring and laid it down on the counter. "If you want to get out of here you can crash at my place," he offered quietly, then walked away, leaving her alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam looked at the key, lying on the counter top. She dropped the alien device and slumped over, burying her head in her arms. "Damn it," she muttered. It wasn't Daniel's fault she was feeling this way. She shouldn't take it out on him. At least he was trying to do something. It wasn't his fault that she was too damned scared to leave the mountain.

She'd tried to go home last night. She'd even made it as far as the front gate. She'd flashed back to the night in her house, the fear at seeing someone in it with her. How easily he'd gotten in the first blow, as she'd stood there, shocked into inaction. How she hadn't wanted to hurt him but had in the end, when her survival instinct had taken over and she'd realized it was going to be him or her. She could still hear the hateful words he'd spat, punctuating each physical blow with a verbal one.

You killed my queen. How I hate the sight of you.

As she'd stood at the last checkpoint she'd realized he was out there too…somewhere. If he had gotten into her home once, he could do it again. With unaccustomed fear overwhelming her, she'd muttered an excuse about forgetting something and fled to the sanctuary of the mountain. But she wasn't the only victim. Daniel had been through a nightmare too. Janet had told her how Hammond had assaulted him, how his time in the sarcophagus had possibly saved him from a life in a wheel chair. And he wasn't running around trying to ignore just how messed up stuff was, hoping that it would just fix itself.

He was doing something.

'Jacob's little brat. Too scared of life to live it. It's too bad you weren't with your mother. It would have saved Jacob so much grief.'

She felt her heart beat faster as the flashback washed over her. Never. She'd never seen so much hate in someone's eyes. Hate that was directed at her. Not even Jonus had…

#

She opened up the envelope, catching a key in her hand as it fell out. She looked at it cautiously, and then pulled out the piece of paper.

_Sam, sorry I can't be there for you. I know you loved Jonus but…He really was no good for you. In time you'll be able to see that. I'd give anything to be able to be there but this mission just won't wait. Why don't you take some time off? George has a tiny cabin back in the hills. It's a little rough, no electricity but it does have lots of hot running water and best of all no phone. Take some time for yourself and I'll see if I can get away this weekend and come visit._

_Dad._

#

She remembered the cabin. It was just like dad had said, at the end of a gravel road halfway up the side of a mountain. She'd spent a week there after breaking up with Jonus. Of course her dad had never quite made it, no big surprise there. But she had found a lot of peace in that week.

And it was exactly the place a person would go if they wanted to disappear for a bit. Even with detailed directions she'd had a hard time finding it. And there was no way in heck Daniel would ever find it, not with out getting lost. She fought a case of hysterical giggles at the thought of her friend getting lost in the woods and having to ask Smokey Bear for directions.

Resolutely she got up, quickly signing off her computer. He had to be at the cabin. She'd show Daniel how to get there. If he could go retrieve the man after what he'd done to him then so could she.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That's it. We're finished Mr. Teal'c," the petite African-American doctor said, writing down her notes in the chart.

Teal'c pulled up the flimsy gown and sat calmly on the edge of the examination table. When he'd been brought in here for an examination he'd felt more than a little trepidation expecting arduous experiments or something cold and clinical. Rather this woman had treated him much as Doctor Fraiser did at first, with cautious respect. He could not blame her for her insecurity. Many females exhibited the same behavior when confronted with a male that was larger than them in stature. In the beginning even the then Captain Carter had eyed him warily.

"This is amazing," Doctor Jean Styles enthused, looking at him. For an alien he looked incredibly human. In fact if it weren't for the tattoo on his head and the pouch in his stomach, she'd have sworn he was human. "I've never seen a person who's so fit. You say it is a result of your…friend." She made a vague gesture towards his abdomen.

"My symbiote imbues me with increased strength, immunity to diseases and a longer life span," Teal'c said quietly.

"Increased life span…. How old are you?" She asked raising her eyebrows.

"I am 102 years of age as of several months ago," he said, enjoying the way her eyes widened. This particular reaction among the Tau'ri was one he enjoyed watching.

"One hundred and two?" She asked incredulous.

"One hundred and two of your years. On Chulak the solar year is longer so I am only eighty-five Chulakian years old."

"Wow…well you don't look a day over forty," she said.

"Thank you. In addition to extending my life span the symbiote also protects itself by allowing me to heal more quickly from wounds."

"You've been wounded before?" She asked, looking at the chart. She'd noted no scars save the one on his forehead.

"Many times. However healing me is not a benevolent act on behalf of the symbiote, rather an act of self-preservation. If I die, it dies," he stated baldly.

The door to the room opened abruptly and Major Ganzer strode in.

"Major, I am in the middle of an exam here," Doctor Styles blustered, stepping in front of her patient.

"Your exam is over," he said coldly, pushing her aside. Before Teal'c could react the man pulled out a pistol and shot him in the chest. Styles screamed as Teal'c staggered back, pushing the bed askew as he fell to the floor, the wave of shock and pain stealing his equilibrium.

"What the hell did you do that for?" She yelled, pushing Ganzer aside to kneel before Teal'c.

The major pulled her back as two burley Marines hurried into the room. She watched in shock as they lifted her patient onto the bed, firmly securing him to the bed with heavy leather restraints they pulled out of a closet.

She watched in horror as the man struggled weakly against the bonds, his dark face contorting with agony. The front of the white gown was turning red, crimson flood of blood spilling over his chest and dripping onto the starched white sheets.

"Your Doctor Fraiser has called your symbiote 'resilient'. Let's see how resilient it really is," he sneered as he pulled Styles out of the room followed by the two guards. The men took station at either side of the door. "If you treat him, you'll find yourself unnecessary around here Doctor. Do I make myself clear?" he asked the woman.

Shocked all she could do was nod silently.

"Let me know if he lives," Ganzer ordered as he turned on his heel and stormed down the hall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel glanced from the narrow gravel road at the woman beside him. She'd shocked the heck out of him when she'd come hurrying after him and invited herself along in his search for the general. Given her attitude in her lab he'd half expected her to run and tell Kensington his plans.

Once she'd put him on course with directions dredged from her memory she'd settled back in the car seat and silently stared out the window at the passing scenery. He'd made a few token attempts at conversation but after the tenth monosyllabic response he'd settled for turning the radio up and directed his attention at not running his car off the twisting mountain road.

She hadn't been kidding when she'd said the cabin was off the beaten track. It was off almost every track. They'd left paved road behind nearly an hour ago and even the gravel was starting to give way to a pair of narrow dirt ruts shrouded by grass. If the road got any worse they were going to have to get out and walk.

"There," she said, perking up. "Turn there." She pointed out the window at a barely discernable break in the dense trees lining the road. He braked and slowly made the turn, frowning a bit as the road started to go uphill and was even more overgrown than the one they'd just left.

"How much further?" he asked.

"Just over this rise," she promised shifting in her seat.

He followed the road and came to a stop in front of a small cabin nestled in a clearing. It was a rather small building; single storied and maybe contained two or three rooms. He could see a thin tendril of smoke curling out of the chimney indicating the structure was occupied. There were a couple of rough wooden chairs on the tiny porch; curtains blew gently through the open windows. He turned off the ignition and unbuckled his seat belt, looking at Sam who made no move to get out of the car.

"You can stay here," he offered. "We don't even know if he's here."

"He is," she said quietly, pointing at the backside of a car just visible around the corner of the cabin.

"Ooh. Ok. You can still wait here."

She took a deep breath and unbuckled her seat belt. "No. I'll go with you," she said, though her tone told him there were about a hundred places she'd rather be.

They walked slowly across the area of shorter grass that could be called a lawn and onto the porch. Sharing a quick glance Daniel knocked on the door. When they didn't get a response Sam stepped over to the window and peeked in.

"He could be out," he suggested.

"No. He's in there," she said, walking back to him and opening the door. He followed her into the dim interior, squinting a bit as his eyes struggled to adjust. "Sir?" she called.

"You're trespassing," a voice said from the corner of the room.

"I seem to remember an invitation to come anytime," she said, approaching the man. George was seated in a battered armchair, starting at the fire in the river stone fireplace.

He was dressed in a plaid shirt and faded jeans and she could see it had been several days since he'd shaved, given his grizzled appearance. It was a shock to her to see him this way, even the few times she'd seen him when she was younger he'd always been immaculately groomed. She took a seat on a chair next to him while Daniel stood by the fireplace.

"Consider it rescinded," he said, still ignoring them.

"If we're not welcome you're going to have to evict us cause we're not leaving," Daniel spoke up.

"Major, I order you to get the hell out of here, and take him with you," he said bitterly.

"Since rumor has it that you resigned, you can't give me orders anymore," Sam said.

"Doctor Jackson, get her the hell out of here."

"Sorry general. Just ask Jack, I have a hard time following orders," he said, leaving the fireplace and moving closer.

With speed the belied both his age and girth the man jumped to his feet and pulled a pistol out from his side, pointing it at the pair. "Get the hell out," he ordered.

Daniel took a surprised step back while Sam reflexively shot to her feet. "General, you don't want to…"

"Shut up Doctor Jackson," he said.

"Daniel, why don't you go outside for a minute," Sam suggested, keeping her eye on the wavering barrel of the pistol.

"Sam?"

"It's ok Daniel. Just…give us a minute," She said, sharing a look with him.

He shrugged and edged away. "I'll aah…be in the car…waiting…for you…"

Sam watched him reluctantly leave and turned her attention back to George as Daniel shut the door. She slowly reached out and gently wrapped her fingers around the barrel of the gun, pulling it from the general's grasp. "I seem to recall someone giving me a lecture once on not playing with guns," she said, popping the clip from the weapon and clearing the barrel.

He plopped down in the chair like a puppet with its strings cut. "Would you please leave," he begged quietly.

"I said the same thing to you…a few years ago," she said softly, sitting on the ottoman in front of him. "When this guy came into my bedroom and told me to stop behaving like a spoiled brat and give my dad a break, that he was going through a tough time too and that he was trying his best," she said, fighting tears as memories of those weeks following her mother's death when all three of them had been in so much pain they had lashed out at each other. It had created rifts that were just beginning to heal. She remembered throwing a fit over something and storming off to her room.  A few minutes later there had been a knock at the door and a man had let himself in, someone she only recognized as being one of her dad's Air Force friends.

He'd sat on her bed and tried to talk to her. Of course she'd ignored him, playing the tragedy queen as he'd called it. Instead of sympathetic platitudes he'd responded to her complaining with a gruff, 'Grow up. Give Jake a break for crying out loud Sam. Can't you see he's trying as hard as he can? He's lost a lot too you know. You're not the only one who loved her.'

She remembered his words bringing forth the tears that she hadn't been able to cry since her dad had walked through the door and broke the news.

Over the years she'd seen the man she'd called 'Uncle George' just a few times, mostly in passing. She'd initially been shocked when she'd arrived at the SGC and realized her new CO was the same man who'd knocked a little sense into her so many years ago.

"Sir, I don't blame you for what happened. It wasn't you."

He closed his eyes, reliving again his memories of his attack upon her, the look of terror on her face, the sound of the knife tearing through her flesh. "It was me," he insisted.

"No," she said, taking his hand and forcing him to look her in the eyes. "It. Wasn't. You. I don't blame you. And…I want my Uncle George back," she whispered.

She saw tears well up in his eyes and she leaned forward to hug him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "So, so sorry."

"I know," she whispered back, feeling the last bit of fear slide away.

"Is aah…is it safe?" Daniel asked cautiously peeking through the window.

"Come on in Daniel," Sam invited, pulling back and wiping her face with her sleeve.

"Ooh. Good. Because it's boring sitting in the car. The radio reception sucks," he said closing the door behind him while George blew his nose.

"Doctor Jackson," he said, getting to his feet. "I would like…"

"It's ok General," Daniel interrupted, holding out his hand. "Bygones?"

"Bygones," George accepted, clasping his hand. "Now, can the two of you tell me what dragged you out here?"

"Sir. We need you help," she said, going on to explain about the events of the last few days, with some of the details filled in by Daniel.

"I've never heard of a Robert Kensington," George said, offering them a glass of water.

"Neither had Jack."

George sighed and looked out the window. He wanted nothing more than to dash back to the mountain and reclaim his command. And there was Teal'c to consider. Lord only knew what he was going through in the clutches of the NID. Then common sense won out over his desires. "It's too late to risk that road tonight. We'll leave first thing in the morning."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Robert hung up the phone and rubbed his forehead. Claire hadn't been kidding when she'd said the imagers caused horrible headaches. And he was hungry too. But the touch of nausea he'd dealt with off and on for the last several days had put him off his feed so to speak. And the last time he'd left the office and traversed the halls he'd been so besieged by questions he'd started avoiding going out. The risks were too great someone would ask the wrong question and his answer would give something away.

It hadn't been planned for him to maintain his façade for this long. But thanks to an annoyingly persistent tropical depression and serious thunderstorms over the plains, the plane carrying the rest of his team was delayed.

Twenty-four more hours. He just had to keep it all under control for twenty-four more hours.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jean slipped into the room, giving an anxious look at the two guards slumped in the hall. "Drag them in here," she whispered as she hurried over to Teal'c. She reached out and cautiously checked his pulse, praying that he still had one.

"What are you doing?" the man asked harshly, his voice tired but cold.

"Ssh," she whispered, laying her fingers over his mouth. "We're going to get you out of here. Jason, help me," she told her son, who let the second guard drop on the floor.

He went to the other side of the bed and started to struggle with the restraints. "God. Is he ok?" he asked, staring in horror at the stiff rust colored stain on the gown.

"I will be fine," Teal'c said, wishing to calm the boy.

"We have to hurry. It won't take them long to find out you're missing," she said, finishing with the restraints. "Let me dress that wound."

"There is no need," Teal'c said, struggling to sit up. "It will heal."

"Well I know it'll heal but you're not going to bleed all over my car. Now will you let me dress it or do I give you the same thing I gave them?" she asked her hands on her hips remembering how easy it had been to drug the guards. Never underestimate the power of homemade brownies laced with sleeping pills.

Teal'c met her gaze with an amused one of his own. "Since you are no doubt risking your life to liberate me, I will willingly acquiesce. However might it not be more prudent to wait until we have fled this place."

"Prudent. Sure. But since you're going to escort us out, you need to be able to play the part."

He reached back and lowered the soiled gown, setting it aside and sitting on the edge of the bed clad only in his shorts.

"Jason, get the clothes," she ordered, pulling a flashlight and pair of forceps out of her bag. The boy, or more accurately young man, clad in fatigues, reached into the gym bag he'd been carrying and began to draw out what looked like a uniform. "This is going to hurt. I can give you a local," she offered.

Teal'c shook his head. "That is not necessary. Please proceed."

She shrugged and applied herself to exploring the wound, looking for the bullet that had to be in that massive chest somewhere. She noticed his arms clench and his hands dig into the stiff mattress as she dug deeper and deeper. "Just another second…I can feel it…there," she said, holding up the bloody piece of metal triumphantly. She set it aside and pulled out a piece of gauze, using it to wipe the trickle of bright red blood off of his smooth chest. She then quickly applied a thick bandage and securely taped it to his skin.

"Is it safe now?" Jason asked from his place by the door where he'd been keeping a look out.

"The bloody part's over," she answered, a tolerant note in her voice. "He'll play with any animal under the sun but faints at the sight of blood," she explained to the jaffa that was struggling to regain his composure. He certainly was no stranger to pain but it was not something he cared to experience often. "Put this on," she ordered, motioning towards the uniform.

He picked it up and looked at it curiously. "This is an Air Force officer's uniform," he stated.

"My husband's. It should fit, at least good enough to get us out of here."

Teal'c nodded and carefully slid his feet to the floor. He put on the crisp blue pants and white shirt. He put on the socks and shoes, grimacing a bit as the shiny black leather pinched his toes. "I have no experience with this," he said, holding out the navy tie.

"Here. I'll do it," Jason offered coming towards him. Teal'c bent over a bit to accommodate the boy who was tall for his age.

"What is your plan?" Teal'c asked the doctor.

"We're just going to walk out of here. This place is so huge and secretive no one will pay any attention," she said. "And the few that do know better than to ask."

Jason finished tying the tie and Teal'c nodded his thanks. He picked up the uniform jacket off the bed and slipped it on, buttoning it as he had seen O'Neill and General Hammond do. He then crossed to the unconscious men and relieved both of them of their side arms, grunting a bit as he bent over and put pressure on his wound.

"Should we not depart?" he asked his rescuers.

"Just don't forget your hat General," Jean said, holding out the navy cap.

Teal'c placed the item on his head and opened the door to the room. The trio slipped out into the halls, counting on the peace and quiet of the late hour to mask their escape.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

1297, 1298, 1299

Jack's internal tally stopped suddenly as the door clanked open and Sergeant Phelps walked in, carrying a tray. Jack peeked at his watch again, 1213.  Lunchtime. He flipped the cover back over the crystal and popped to his feet. "Sergeant. Where's Doctor Jackson?" The man didn't reply but set the tray on the floor by the tiny slot cut in the bars. He turned to leave. "Sergeant?"

The man stepped away, turning his back to the camera in the corner. "We're not supposed to talk to you sir," he said quietly.

"Since when?"

"Since 0800 this morning sir. And we're especially not supposed to tell you Doctor Jackson and Major Carter are AWOL as of 0801 and the new personnel, whose security clearances are all signed by General Kensington, are arriving at 1600 today. We're also not supposed to tell you that these new people are all scheduled for a mission at 1730," the man reported, his voice still low and barely audible.

Jack sighed and considered his options. "I need to see Doctor Fraiser," he demanded.

"You're not allowed visitors sir. Not anymore."

"Well Sergeant, I have one hell of a headache. So your choices are to either get Fraiser in here or take me to her," Jack said, recognizing the difficult position he'd put the man in. But he really didn't have a choice. Something was wrong. Really wrong. It wasn't normal for Daniel to just disappear, and there was no way on Earth Carter would be AWOL without a good reason. Then again both of the people she'd report to were either off the base or locked up. And these new people. It was just wrong. He knew from experience, the commanding officer of a base over-riding normal security procedures was an old Special Ops trick. Dollars to donuts the mission these new people were going to go on was going to be their last…officially anyway.

"It must be a bad one sir," Phelps said. "More than you can stand," he prompted.

Jack frowned, then caught on. "Yes. It is. Quite more than I can stand. Excruciating even."

"And to ignore a prisoner in my care is a dereliction of duty, isn't it sir?"

"Definite dereliction. Court-martialable offense."

Phelps nodded and started walking to the door. "I'll see what I can do sir."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A large wet tongue licked the side of his face, disturbing his kel-no-reem, or more accurately, the closest state he could attain squeezed into the backseat of a late model sedan. A space he shared with a rather large and quite frankly unattractive animal.

"Horse. Down," Jason quietly ordered from the passenger seat. "Let him sleep."

'There is no need. I am awake," Teal'c said opening his eyes. It was dark outside although it was starting to lighten a bit with the coming dawn. He shifted in his seat, trying to ease cramped muscles. In his time on Earth he had found few of their vehicles that he could comfortably ride in, save for O'Neill's large truck. Major Carter's small car was especially uncomfortable for him.

"That's timing. I was starting to think you were going to sleep through Utah," Jean said, glancing in the rear view mirror. Teal'c looked again out of the window and watched the scenery speed by. They were on a large divided highway. The landscape was barren and reminded him of the scenery he had seen on his trip last month through eastern Colorado and into Kansas.

It had been amazingly easy to make their escape from Area 51, although he was sure the General's uniform and the fatigues Jason was wearing had a lot to do with it. As Major Carter had once said, the military was often more concerned with keeping people out than keeping them in.

The uniform had belonged to Jean's late husband. He had been a colonel when he'd died but a trip to the local military surplus store had provided the necessary insignia to make him a general.

The trio had simply walked out through the various checkpoints and driven away. A few miles down the road Jean had pulled over and they had traded vehicles. They were now traveling in a car belonging to an elderly neighbor of the doctor. He hoped the subterfuge would be enough to cover their tracks for a few more hours.

Teal'c was sure that once they reached the SGC General Hammond or Colonel O'Neill would give the woman sanctuary, if not on Earth, then perhaps off world.

"It just makes things easier with you awake," the woman replied fighting a yawn.

"What things?"

"We need to stop for gas for starters."

"And breakfast," Jason interrupted.

Jean laughed. "And breakfast for the bottomless pit over there. I just didn't want you to wake up and find us gone," the woman said, taking an exit off the highway.

They found a gas station located right next to a McDonalds. While Jean pumped the gas and Jason procured the food, Teal'c walked Horse, trying to remain inconspicuous. At least as inconspicuous as a six foot tall Brigadier General could be when walking a canine that his son could use as…well as a horse.

Five more hours. They just had to remain undetected for five more hours. That was how long Jean estimated it would take them to drive the remaining miles to Cheyenne Mountain.

Seeing Jason hurrying towards the car balancing a large bag and several cups, Teal'c urged Horse back to the car, ushering the animal inside and settling himself in the driver's seat.

"Aah…Mr. Teal'c…" the woman started walking towards him, shoving her change into her pocket and finding her seat occupied.

"I am capable of controlling this vehicle. And you have been driving for several hours and are likely too fatigued to safely continue," he said gently.

She cast him a look, clearly torn between her body's desire for sleep and her instincts to keep her son safe.

"Ok," she gave in. "We'll have a bit of a trial. The next town is thirty miles away. If I don't like your driving we'll switch back when we get there," she said, getting into the car.

He acquiesced with a nod of his head and carefully pulled out into traffic.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Janet stood at the Sergeant's side and waited for the man to open the door. "I'll be right outside Doc," he said.

"Thanks Sergeant," she replied, stepping quickly into the room. "Colonel. I hear you have a bit of a headache."

Jack looked at her, a puzzled look on his face. "Doc? What? Oh yeah. Bad headache," he said, walking over to the bars. "Have you heard anything from Carter or Daniel?" He whispered when he was closer.

"Last I knew they were off to find the general. I could try their cell phones," she offered, taking his pulse.

"Don't. Not unless you leave the base. It isn't safe. What's Kensington up to?"

Janet shrugged. "He's been closeted in his office all day. Didn't even leave for lunch. In fact I don't think he even went home last night," she reported, digging a small packet of pills out of her pocket.

"Something's wrong, doc, really wrong with him and these new people. No one goes on a mission on their first day," Jack said emphatically.

She nodded and made a show of taking his temperature. "I scheduled them for physicals at 1630. I'll see what I can find."

"Do that, but watch yourself. My gut is telling me there is more to Kensington than meets the eye."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Robert leaned his elbows on the desk and massaged his temples. God his head hadn't hurt this bad since the day he'd received his globe, trident and anchors. He was grateful that George ran such a tight ship. One that could practically run itself. Which is pretty much what it had been doing for the last few days.

A knock at the door reverberated through his skull. "What?' he growled not looking up. What part of 'do not disturb' did these people not get?

"Reporting as ordered sir," a voice boomed causing Robert to wince. He looked up, relieved to see the six members of his team.

"You do that again and I will shoot you," he threatened as the door closed.

"Go ahead. Shamash will fix me right up."

"Shut up," a woman ordered. "Is it safe here?" she asked Robert as she threw the lock on the door.

"It's clean," he answered.

Almost in unison the sextet reached under their shirts and removed the small devices attached to their chests. The air seemed to shimmer and instead of six sharply dressed Air Force officers, he saw a half dozen rather scruffy looking people.

"Have you had yours on the whole time?" Claire Tobias asked stepping forward and sitting on the desk.

'Of course he has,' Gilgamesh told his host.

"Unlike you mutts I used to work here," Robert Makepeace said his voice bitter. "I couldn't risk anyone finding out. Enkidu's been helping," he said, tapping the side of his head.

He still couldn't believe he was sitting in Hammond's chair talking about the symbiote he had in his head, and attempting to get himself and said symbiote to another world.

There were times when the events of the last year seemed more like a bad TV show than reality.

After a couple of months in a stockade he'd been approached by a person who offered him a way out of his 'life without parole' sentence. His deal had been an eerie ghost of the one offered O'Neill by Maybourne. 'Say yes and I'll tell you what's going on, say no and I'll tell you nothing.'

Figuring whatever the man and his employers were up to had to be better than staring at stone walls 24/7, he accepted. Less than a day later he found himself host to a millennia old creature and co-leader of a tiny group of goa'uld.

These weren't your garden-variety snakeheads like he's spent the better part of three years blowing away. These were different.  They knew now that while the Tok'ra were Ageria's children, they were the offspring of Utnapishtim and Ninsun. The same basic breed as the present day goa'uld…but with one important difference, they had no naquadah in their blood. And because of that, they had little interest in goa'uld weaponry. Without the naquadah it was as useless to them as it was to humans.

 They'd been on Earth practically since it's beginning. They had originally been a scientific team sent to study the humans' potential to become hosts. Their original mission was to observe, then leave. Unfortunately their reconnaissance of the planet hadn't said a thing about seismic activity. Soon after their arrival a large earthquake had damaged their ship beyond repair. With them being the last of their kind, there was no one to rescue them. They were marooned. Their small group witnessed the arrival of Ra.

They stood as silent sentries, spectators to endless years of human history.  That knowledge made it easy for them to survive. They would switch hosts every so often; each new host building upon the foundations laid by those that had come before. Many of them held seats of power and wealth. Positions which also made life easier than when they were scrabbling amongst the populace for survival. And it also put them in the perfect position to find out about the stargate. After millennia of exile they finally had a chance to go home.

A home they weren't even sure existed any more. There were those among them that felt it was too great  a risk to leave. They were established here on Earth. Some of them did not want to give up their power.  Others were simply comfortable living on a planet that they already knew. Over the millennia their memories of the home world had faded, turning into more of a myth than reality. They had tried to go home once during Ra's reign but that attempt ended in tragedy, several of their already small number had been killed. After that tragedy, and the humans burying the gate, they abandoned any ideas of returning home. Earth was now their home.

That was why several of them wanted to stay. They felt they faced extinction if they ventured through the gate, leaving their fates to the fickle mistress of providence.

Robert and his people were not among the group that wished to stay. When Enkidu's previous host, an attaché to a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had stumbled across a report written by Doctor Jackson and the late Robert Rothman, claiming to have discovered the Goa'uld home world, he knew the time to reclaim their home had come.

They felt that if they contacted the SGC and asked for help their request would likely be refused or would result in their presence becoming public knowledge. And several among them felt even if the SGC kept their secret, the NID would find out. And that was a risk none of them could take. The people at the NID reminded them of the witch hunters, and persecutors of centuries past.

And so the plan was concocted for all of them to take new hosts, people who knew the worlds on the other side of the gate and how to operate the alien machine. An opportunity presented itself when O'Neill and the alien allies busted the rogue SGC. The goa'uld now had access to hosts who had been through the stargate, something they themselves had never done. And several of these new hosts had nothing to lose.

Through contacts at Area 51 they attained several of the imagers from P3X118, which they reprogrammed to allow themselves to change their appearance or become invisible as the situation warranted.

The original plan had been to slowly infiltrate the SGC and then 'disappear' on missions. This had changed the moment Doctor Jackson discovered the fossilized remains of one if their ancestors in a streambed in Kansas.

They had no more time to slowly infiltrate but felt they had to move quickly and get off Earth before their presence was discovered. Then when General Hammond fell victim to the zatarc programming, they knew their time had come.

It had been incredibly easy to prey on the confusion and insecurities generated by the fiasco. That was one thing that made the much-vaunted Tau'ri military so vulnerable, it's people were trained to follow the orders of their superior, regardless of who he was.

It had been simple for Robert to generate the mirage of an Air Force general and assume command. His subterfuge had been made even easier by George's bout of self-pity. And tossing O'Neill in the brig had been an extremely satisfying way of keeping the man out of his hair.

Unfortunately, he was pretty sure Carter and Jackson had gone in search of the errant general. And once Hammond got back and made a few phone calls, all their plans would come tumbling down like a house of cards in a hurricane.

"What's the plan boss?" Neumann asked, walking behind Robert to explore the contents of the shelves, picking various items up like he was browsing in a store.

"We ship out at 1730. I've got the coordinates for the home world. It might take some 'persuading' since Hammond locked it out," he said.

"That's my favorite part," Claire drawled. "Gil's too."

"No one is to be hurt," Enkidu said, his voice firm. "We have no quarrel with these people. And put that down," he snarled at Neumann, pulling the eagle statue out of his hands and replacing it on the shelf.

"Geez Colonel. This is the guy that put you in the stockade."

"He was also my CO for three years, and a damn good one, no matter how misguided he may be," Makepeace said recognizing the beginnings of an argument. Neumann was going to be trouble one day.

A knock at the door stopped the conversation. "General sir?" he heard Janet Fraiser call through the door.

"Get those things back on," he whispered, sitting back down in his chair. Once they had all resumed their identities he nodded at Claire to unlock the door.

Doctor Fraiser stood in the doorway, a puzzled look on her face. "I'm sorry sir. Am I interrupting?" she asked, stepping into the room giving the people a wary glance.

"No. Not at all doctor. What can I do for you?" Robert asked, keeping his voice even.

"Are these our new people?"

"Yes. They just arrived."

"Then it's a case of good timing. I was just coming to ask you about their physicals. I'd scheduled them for half an hour ago then when no one came I thought I'd come see if anything was wrong."

"Nothing's wrong doctor. And there is no need for the physical. They had one before they arrived."

Janet paused. "General, with all due respect, that's not standard procedure. Everyone in the facility HAS to have a physical before they start work. And especially before they go off world."

"Not this time," he said firmly.

"Sir. I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist. If for no other reason than if things go wrong on your mission I'll have no baseline…"

"Doctor," he interrupted, shooting to his feet. "Do I have to make it an order?"

"You can sir. And I'll countermand it. General, for the safety of this facility everyone has to have a physical on record…" Her words trailed off as Claire pulled her gun out of her waistband and hit her over the head. Janet collapsed to the floor in a boneless heap.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Makepeace demanded.

"She was trying too hard. She knew something," the woman said, replacing her gun.

Robert sighed and agreed with her. He'd never known Fraiser to be this tenacious, not about a standard physical. "Ok. Tie her up. We're leaving now."

A chorus of 'yes sirs' greeted his order. Janet was bound and stuffed behind the desk where she would be invisible from the door. Makepeace then led his people out into the halls and towards the room where he'd hidden their gear. They didn't have much time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel drove through the last checkpoint with a tiny frown. "This may sound like a silly question sir, but if you've been relieved of your command should you be able to get in here so easy?" he asked, parking in his spot and turning off the car.

"I shouldn't," the general replied, undoing his seat belt and opening the door.

"He's right. We should have been turned back at the outer gate," Sam affirmed, also getting out of the car.

"So you think this whole Kensington thing is a set up?" Daniel asked.

"I'm starting to think that," Hammond replied.

"Well maybe…" Sam started, then stopped as a car sped up to the outer gate, a pair of police cruisers on its tail. They stared in amazement as the car was waved through followed by the police cars and then the SF's on foot, guns drawn, ready to defend the base against this breech of security.

The car squealed to a halt and they saw Teal'c unfold himself from the driver's seat followed quickly by a diminutive older woman, a young man and an incredibly ugly dog.

"General Hammond…" He started then stopped as the police officers jumped out of their car, guns drawn and aimed at Teal'c. The SF's, recognizing the friend, aimed their weapons at the police. A cacophony of 'Freeze. Police', 'Do not move', 'Lower your weapons', filled the air as Teal'c turned, sheltering Jean and Jason behind him.

"What the Sam Hill is going on here?" Hammond bellowed. "What the hell are you doing chasing this man onto US Government property?" he demanded of the police.

"Who are you?" one of the officers demanded of him.

George realized he was still in civilian clothes and as such appeared as a simple bystander to them. "I'm Major General George S. Hammond, the commander of this facility. And these are my personnel. Who are you and what are you doing on restricted property?"

"Sir. We're following a fugitive. This man is wanted for grand theft auto and kidnapping in Nevada. He was reported to be armed and dangerous and using this woman and her son as hostages," the officer said, not lowering his weapon.

"Do I look like a hostage to you?" Jean demanded, stepping from behind Teal'c. "He isn't the one pointing guns at me sonny," she said heatedly.

"Lower your weapons officer," George instructed. "Before my men take offense to you threatening one of their own," he said, the unspoken message clear and punctuated by the half dozen more guards who'd seen the fracas and moved up from their positions closer to the entrance.

The two police officers, recognizing that they were severely outgunned, lowered their pistols and returned them to their holsters. "General. This man is wanted," he insisted in a calmer tone of voice.

"You have to be mistaken. The aah…General here wouldn't kidnap anyone," Daniel said, stepping forward.

"Then why did he run?" the other officer demanded.

"He was on his way here. We have an emergency inside the facility that requires his personnel attention. Unfortunately we couldn't get a staff car to him fast enough so he drove his own," Sam spoke up. "See, he was even in such a hurry he didn't have time to put on his shoes," she said, pointing at Teal'c's bare feet struggling to keep a straight face. Her teammate was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

"And them?"

"They are my wife and child," Teal'c said. "I did not have time to return them to my domicile before arriving."

"Ma'am?" the officer asked Jean. "Is this true?" he asked, not wanting to leave a victim to her fate.

"It is. This here's my hubby, and his son. Can't you see the resemblance?" she asked, taking Teal'c's arm possessively and pointing at Jason.

"I vouch for them personally," Hammond said.

The officers shared a look. "Ok sir. They're all yours. In the interests of civilian/military relations," the officer said.

"Thank you," Hammond replied. The two police officers got back in their cars and left.  Once they were gone the SF's faded back to their positions.

"Glad you could join us Teal'c," Daniel said with a smile.

"As am I Daniel Jackson," the warrior replied as they all made their way into the mountain. "General Hammond. I am pleased to see you well again."

"You're not the only one. And I can't wait to hear how the hell you busted out of Area 51…Later," the man said with a tolerant grin eyeing the big dog warily.

"What's your plan sir?" Sam asked as they entered the elevator.

George thought for a moment. "Teal'c, escort your guests to the VIP suite on level 25. Major you will release Colonel O'Neill, and Doctor Jackson, you're with me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack glanced at his watch and put his arm back under his head. 1712. If all went well in about a half-hour Kensington's team would be on their mission. Assuming that's what it was. He had a funny feeling his last chance for answers would go through the gate with them. Which meant no one was in charge right now. He just hoped they didn't forget he was in here. He chuckled grimly as he pictured someone finding him in a year or two and wondering whom the skeleton in the cell was.

The zinging sound of a zat had him rolling to his feet and reaching for the weapon he didn't have. The door opened and he watched Carter pull Phelps into the cell.

"Carter? What the hell are you doing?" he asked as she let the man slide to the floor and turned towards him.

"Don't you recognize a jail break when you see one sir?" she asked, pointing the zat at him. He saw her finger tense on the trigger and he cringed, waiting for the shock to come.

When it didn't he opened his eyes and saw her pull the door open.

"For cryin out loud, what's wrong with using the key?" he complained, gratefully leaving the cell.

"Ooh. Right…umm…"

"Carter…"

"I thought C-4 was a bit of overkill. Besides I've fantasized about blowing that door for years," she said with a shrug.

Jack nodded, making another mental note NOT to get on her bad side, especially when she was armed. "What's going on?" he demanded, moving towards the door as she handed him a zat.

"The general's in his office right now. He made a few calls on the way in. No one, including the Pentagon, has heard of a Robert Kensington," she reported, following him out into the hall.

"Hell, I coulda told ya that."

Sam rolled her eyes, not responding. "We're meeting up in the general's office."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel followed the general down the corridors of level 27, his eyes scanning the halls as if he could see through the walls and have some clue as to what was going on. He saw the general tense and square his shoulders as the man approached his office door. For a brief moment Daniel felt pity for Kensington. General Hammond at full steam was a sight to behold.

The man twisted the doorknob and strode into the room. He came to an abrupt halt as his eyes took in…nothing. The room was empty. "I am going to get to the bottom of...Oh my God," the general declared, rounding the desk. Daniel saw him kneel down. He hurried to his side and saw Janet bound and gagged and stuffed under the desk. "She's alive," he declared, gently pulling down the gag and reaching into his pocket for his penknife. The woman started to stir and moaned as George cut the neck tie that held her hands together.

"Janet?" Daniel asked, kneeling beside the general.

"Dan...What?" she muttered, opening her eyes.

"Doctor, are you ok?" Hammond asked.

"General Hammond…you're back?"

"Yes. Major, what happened? Where is Kensington?" he asked again as Janet struggled to focus.

"Umm…I heard them say something about a mission…I think they're going through the gate sir."

Just then they heard the familiar chunking sound of chevrons locking. Daniel shot to his feet and ran from the general's office to look through the briefing room window.

A few seconds he hurried back. "It's the new people," he reported. "At least I think so. I don't recognize them."

"Go," Janet said, still on the floor.

"Doctor?"

"I'll be ok. Go," she ordered. With a reassuring pat George got to his feet and followed Daniel down to the control room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack and Sam hurried down the stairs to level 28, avoiding the elevator out of a need for expediency and the desire to avoid any more confrontations.

While she knew zatting Phelps was the best thing she could do for the man since it clearly made him a victim instead of an accomplice, she still hated assaulting her comrades in arms. It was so rude.

As they exited onto level 28 the door further down the hall began to grind its way down. Someone was trying to isolate the gateroom from the rest of the facility. They shared a quick glance and took off at a run towards the impending barrier.

"Come on," Jack urged, running faster. She followed him, quickly calculating the distance from the door, its rate of descent and just how much it would hurt if either of them happened to be under it when it made contact with the floor.

With unspoken communication they both threw themselves under the door rolling to a stop on the other side as the metal barrier hit the cement floor with an echoing clang.

They both laid there for a second, breathing heavily with their exertion and the close call.

"Are you injured?"

Jack looked up to see a very tall, very imposing Jaffa standing over him. "T," he said, taking the man's hand and allowing him to help him to his feet. "Buddy. You're back."

"Indeed," Teal'c answered helping Sam to her feet as well. "I believe Kensington is planning to flee the planet. We must hurry."

"We…whoa. Wait a minute. You leave here a glorified lab rat and come back a general? A two star no less?" Jack said taking in the sight of the barefoot jaffa in an Air Force uniform.

"He got married too," Sam quipped just to see the look on her CO's face.

"Married? Teal'c you…" Jack stopped as he heard the faint sound of chevrons locking. "Damn," he cursed quietly and ran towards the control room, Sam and Teal'c on his heels

They skidded around the corner just as the door to the gateroom closed and took the short flight of steps at a run. A glance confirmed that the blast doors in front of the windows were down also, shielding it from view.

"They're getting away!" Daniel yelled, clanging down the stairs.

"Get those doors open! Shut down that gate!" Jack ordered as Sam stepped over an unconscious Sargent Davis to claim his terminal.

"I can't shut it down. I'm locked out," she declared, typing furiously.

The blast doors slid up revealing seven people in the gateroom. They saw the tail of a FRED disappear through the event horizon followed by a second one.

Hearing the doors grind up the group turned back and made eye contact with the people in the control room.

"Stand to Kensington. Or whoever the hell you are!" Hammond ordered over the PA.

"I don't take your orders any more," Kensington yelled. Following a bit of intuition and remembering her theories on how an assailant had run amuck in the SGC a few weeks ago, Sam typed in the command to trigger the harmonic generators they'd installed after the alien invasion. They stared in amazement as Kensington's true face was revealed.

"Makepeace?" Daniel whispered stunned.

"Are the rest not among those you arrested for treason O'Neill?"

"Makepeace. What the hell are you doing?" Jack yelled over the comm.

"He's opening some options colonel," Neumann said as they edged closer and closer to the gate.

Robert's eyes flared brightly. "We have no quarrel with you but if you follow us you will die," he said, ushering his people through the event horizon.

The gate closed with a snap and they stared out into the empty room.

Two hours later they sat around the briefing room table. "I went through the whole system sir. I found no evidence of any tampering," Sam reported alleviating the fear that the goa'uld could have sabotaged their systems.

Hammond nodded. "How about where they went?"

"We redialed and sent a MALP through. There were no signs of life. In fact it looked like they used it as a transfer point. The FRED tracks lead right back to the gate."

"So they could be anywhere," Jack said.

"An inventory shows no weapons missing from the armory save two zat-nik-a-tel," Teal'c reported. "Every GDO is accounted for as well."

Jack and Sam shared sheepish looks. "Sorry," Jack muttered pulling the zat out of his pocket and laying it in the table. Sam did the same.

Hammond gave his head a tiny shake and sighed. "That seems to tie up all the loose ends," he said with a note of finality in his voice.

"Sir?" Jack asked warily.

"Colonel, I am hereby relinquishing command…"

"General," Sam protested.

"Major. I have been exposed to alien mind control technology. I have been compromised and I should no longer be in command," he said, cutting her off.

"Sir. The sarcophagus fixed that. The MRI proved it."

"We can't know that major. Both Major Graham and Lieutenant Astor had several MRI's after their mission and nothing showed up," he said.

"Sir. There has to be another way."

"I think there is," Daniel said, walking into the room followed by Teal'c and Janet. He strode purposefully to the general and set the gold figurine of Hathor down in front of the man, quickly stepping back.

George stared at the statue for a moment then looked up, a puzzled look on his face. "Care to explain this Doctor Jackson?"

"The zatarc programming is activated by a trigger. Until you see or hear it the programming is dormant," Janet said.

"So? What does that have do with this?" He pointed at the figurine.

"From the way you acted before THAT was your trigger. If the programming was still intact you would have flipped out by now," she continued, taking a seat.

"Flipped out?" Jack teased.

"It's a technical term colonel."

"The point is," Daniel spoke up. "The programming is gone."

"Which means you are no longer compromised and there is no need for you to leave this facility," Teal'c declared.

George stared at the statue a tiny smile creeping across his face. It was more than he had hoped for. He looked around at his best team and saw the trust on their faces. Something that had been missing in recent days.

"Now that that's settled sir, do you think we can plan that return trip to P2Z383 to scavenge some goa'uld goodies?" Jack spoke up. "Before someone else raids the store and I have to pay Teal'c twenty bucks."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel walked into his office and snapped on the light with a sigh. God he was tired. Even with SG-6, 4,8 and 13 helping it had still taken them all day to crate up and transport the goa'uld weapons. He rolled his shoulders to ease a cramp and stretched, grimacing as pulled muscles announced their presence. He had to hurry. He was due at Sam's house for a 'welcome to the SGC' party for Doctor Styles and her son. Given that the woman already had clearance and how she had helped Teal'c, Hammond had found a place for her in the Medical Department and a job for her son at a local store. Using a few contacts he'd even wangled the woman base housing at Fort Carson until she could find a place of her own.

And Daniel couldn't wait to see the outcome of Siler's little favor. From what he'd heard the man had worked wonders; tearing out and replacing the bloodstained carpet and repainting the walls to cover every sign of the attack.

His eyes lit on a paper wrapped bundle on his desk. He thought back. The last time he'd been in his office was when he'd asked Siler for his help…and there had been no package on his desk. He looked at the key in his hand that he'd just used to unlock the door. Ok. Either Sam was picking locks again or someone had been in here.

Curious he picked up the package, surprised at how heavy it was. He carefully unwrapped it and stared at the small cuneiform tablet. A small piece of paper fluttered free and he picked it up.

_Enkidu says thank you for returning Ninsun to us._

He looked at the tablet again, feeling timelessness in the stone. He frowned and tried to translate the ancient language.

His name was called Gilgamesh.

In a rush his mind made the connection. He set down the tablet and scrabbled for the report he'd gotten back on the fragment of Pandora he'd sent off for tests. The dates were right…Ninsun was a minor Sumarian goddess…Gilgamesh and Enkidu. One man's search for immortality. The oldest story in the world. The first heroes…the lack of Naquadah…How Sam hadn't been able to sense them…The glow in Makepeace's eyes… "They've been here all along," he whispered to the empty room.

Fin


End file.
